Dotcom files against US government, accuses FBI of dodgy dealing

Kim Dotcom has gone on the legal and media offensive in the US, accusing the FBI of using dodgy evidence to get the warrants it used against him.

The US media have widely reported that his legal team have lodged court papers that ask for a closer look at what the FBI filed when it was applying for its seizure warrants against Dotcom’s online file storage operation, Megaupload.

The reports also say Dotcom is also expected to announce the successor to Megaupload, called just Mega, later this month.

But before that can happen, he is still fighting the case that saw Megaupload shut down and his business and personal assets seized.

Dotcom's lawyer, Ira Rothken has posted detailed information about the filing on his firm's website.

He says the papers have been submitted to the US Federal Court in Virginia and argues that the "DOJ's core evidence submitted under seal in the secret domain name seizure process was misleading.”

The filing also asks the court for a remedy.

The papers raise the question of whether the US government made a "crucial omission" when it filed papers and missed "critical, exculpatory information regarding whether, why and how Megaupload knew it was hosting criminally infringing files.”

These files have been discussed by the defendants before and were kept, they say, because the government told them to do so.

"The truth, as the government well knows, is quite different," says the statement. "Megaupload had every reason to retain those files in good faith because the government had sought and obtained Megaupload's cooperation in retrieving the files and warned that alerting users to the existence of the warrant and the government's interest in the files could compromise the investigation."

It adds that while it is now clear that Megaupload was the target of a criminal investigation, at that time, two years ago, this was not made clear.

"In sum, the government came to paint as criminal the very course of conduct by Megaupload that the government had induced in requesting good-faith cooperation with an investigation that was to remain secret," it concludes.

Mr Dotcom says he will launch a new file sharing service, "Mega", on January 20 - the anniversary of his arrest.