SPIEGEL: You have joined Julian Assange's defense team to cover "American aspects" of potential charges against him. What kind of criminal investigation are you expecting in the US?

Dershowitz: I was asked to become involved in this case by Geoffrey Robertson, who is Assange's chief counsel in Great Britain and the chief counsel for Wikileaks. He asked me to advise him on American aspects of the case and those aspects involving what appears to be a criminal investigation that has begun by the Justice Department. US government officials just announced that they are at the preliminary stages of a criminal investigation. Although they did not say who their targets are, we still have to be prepared. If they try to prosecute Assange for merely publishing material, we will have a very strong defense because under the Pentagon Papers case, which I was also involved in 40 years ago, there is a right to publish this kind of material.