Background

Aaron Swartz

For some background on the case, Wikipedia explains:

Aaron Hillel Swartz (November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013) was an American computer programmer, writer, political organizer and Internet Hacktivist.

Swartz was involved in the development of the web feed format RSS, the organization Creative Commons, the website framework web.py and the social news site, Reddit, in which he became a partner after its merger with his company, Infogami. Swartz’s later work focused on sociology, civic awareness and activism.

Continue scrolling for more...

He helped launch the Progressive Change Campaign Committee in 2009 to learn more about effective online activism. In 2010 he became a research fellow at Harvard University’s Safra Research Lab on Institutional Corruption, directed by Lawrence Lessig.

He founded the online group Demand Progress, known for its campaign against the Stop Online Piracy Act. On January 6, 2011, Swartz was arrested by MIT police on state breaking-and-entering charges, after systematically downloading academic journal articles from JSTOR. Federal prosecutors later charged him with two counts of wire fraud and 11 violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, carrying a cumulative maximum penalty of $1 million in fines, 35 years in prison, asset forfeiture, restitution and supervised release.

Swartz declined a plea bargain under which he would serve six months in federal prison. Two days after the prosecution rejected a counter-offer by Swartz, he was found dead in his Brooklyn, New York apartment, where he had hanged himself.

In June 2013, Swartz was posthumously inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame.

Originally, this page was setup to house the FBI File of Aaron Swartz – however, the Secret Service also released a cache of records pertaining to the internet activist.

Below, you will find the FBI File, and the records released by the Secret Service thus far.

Document Archive

FBI Records

FBI File of Aaron Swartz [25 Pages, 1.77MB]

 FBI File on the case against Aaron Swartz (Case #288A-WF-238943) [ 87 Pages, 38.52MB ]

 FBI File on the PACER system being compromised, Case #288A-WF-238943 [ 221 Pages, 6.9MB | Added 9/19/2014 ]

 

Secret Service Records (Last updated 2/12/2020)

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 1 [ 104 Pages, 4.38MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 2 [ 26 Pages, 1.4MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 3 [ 379 Pages, 22.59MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 3 – Spreadsheet [ 4,067 Pages, 7.71MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 3 – Photographs [ 190 Pages, 29.81MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 4 [ 1 Page, 131kb ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 5 [ 1 Page, 121kb ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 6 [ 1 Page, 128kb ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 7 [ 7 Pages, 450kb ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 8 [ 237,397 Pages, 424.35MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 9 [ 90 Pages, 4.21MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 10 [ 259 Pages, 21.54MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 11 [ 17 Pages, 930kb ]

Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 12 (Not yet released by the Secret Service)

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 13 [ 254 Pages, 19.76MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 14 [ 9 Pages, 0.7MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 15 [ 13 Pages, 1.2MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 16 [ 547 Pages, 21.64MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 17 [ 403 Pages, 12.69MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 18 [ 2 Pages, 0.15MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 19 [ 533 Pages, 27.17MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 20 [ 33 Pages, 11.74MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 21 [ 309 Pages, 94.90MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 22 [ 4 Pages, 1.3MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 23 [ 34 Pages, 12.2MB ]

 Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 24 [ 1 Page, 0.6MB ]

Secret Service Response to Request for Aaron Swartz’ Records Part 25-26 [ 130 Page, 7MB ]

Declassified Photos of Aaron Swartz Inside Computer Closet at MIT

Follow The Black Vault on Social Media:

This post was published on February 12, 2020 6:00 am

John Greenewald

Recent Posts

FOIA Appeal Adds New Dog Bite Details from Biden White House, Confirms Video Evidence Withheld

Newly obtained Secret Service records continue to shed light on the numerous biting incidents involving…

September 26, 2025

DoD Redacts Nearly All Records Explaining AARO’s Use of Law Enforcement Exemption for UAP Files

The Department of Defense (DoD) has released a set of heavily redacted emails in response…

September 25, 2025

Pentagon Denies Existence of “Yankee Blue” Memo Reported by Wall Street Journal

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response has raised new questions about a widely circulated…

September 16, 2025

DoD Says Aerospace Firms Went “On the Record” About UAP — Then Refuses to Acknowledge Records Exist

In March 2024, the Department of Defense (DoD) published publicly its Report on the Historical…

September 6, 2025

NASA Cites FOIA Exemption to Withhold James Webb Briefing Content Despite Public Hearing

In September 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed with NASA seeking…

September 3, 2025

FBI Files: Historical Figures & Groups

Background Welcome to the FBI Files on Historical Figures & Groups archive at The Black…

August 31, 2025