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Saturday, April 13, 2019 2:25:00 AM
Donald Trump, who praised WikiLeaks 141 times, now has 'no opinion' on Julian Assange
"WikiLeaks: Assange will be expelled from Ecuadorian Embassy within 'hours to days'"
By Washington bureau chief Zoe Daniel with Emily Olson
Updated yesterday at 6:03pm
[...]
Washington torn on First Amendment protections
Ever since WikiLeaks burst onto the world stage in 2010 with the release of a cache of classified US data about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington has been divided on one big question.
Is WikiLeaks a publisher with protection under the First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom of the press, or is it a conspirator in anti-government activities?
In the first instance, it is the 2010 release of classified information by former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning .. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-31/bradley-manning-found-guilty-of-espionage/4854798 .. that the US is using to drive its conspiracy charge to get Assange extradited from the UK.
The newly unsealed indictment re-ups old allegations that Assange conspired with Manning to crack a password stored on US Defence Department computers.
Photo: The charges against Julian Assange relate to Chelsea Manning's release of classified data.
(AP: Alastair Grant)
"During the conspiracy, Manning and Assange engaged in real-time discussions regarding Manning's transmission of classified records to Assange," the Department of Justice wrote in a press release accompanying the indictment .. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-computer-hacking-conspiracy .
"The discussions also reflect Assange actively encouraging Manning to provide more information. During an exchange, Manning told Assange that 'after this upload, that's all I really have got left'. To which Assange replied, 'curious eyes never run dry in my experience'."
Assange was charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, which comes with a maximum penalty of five years in prison if he's proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
More charges have already been foreshadowed by Justice Department sources.
Manning looks unlikely to help.
Her 35-year sentence was commuted by the Obama administration after she'd spent almost seven years in prison, but she was jailed again last month, for contempt, after refusing to testify against Assange before a Grand Jury in Virginia.
Obama chose not to bring charges against Assange
A director of the American Civil Liberties Union has urged the US and Europe to tread carefully in bringing charges against Assange.
"Any prosecution by the United States of Mr Assange for WikiLeaks' publishing operations would be unprecedented and unconstitutional, and would open the door to criminal investigations of other news organisations," Ben Wizner wrote in a statement.
"Moreover, prosecuting a foreign publisher for violating US secrecy laws would set an especially dangerous precedent for US journalists, who routinely violate foreign secrecy laws to deliver information vital to the public's interest."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-12/donald-trump-administration-pressing-charges-julian-assange/10995934
-
As Ecuador Harbored Assange, It Was Subjected to Threats and Leaks
[...]
The United States may have played a central role in the effort to corral Mr. Assange. On Oct. 14, with the emails upending the campaign and the election just weeks away, a confidante of the Clintons and a top aide to Secretary of State John Kerry showed up at a dinner party hosted by the Ecuadorean ambassador before a ball, lingering with him as other guests left, several attendees said.
Mr. Assange’s internet was curtailed by the Ecuadorean Embassy the very next day.
But WikiLeaks quickly retaliated, issuing a cryptic message that a leak against Ecuador was on its way. The tactic seemed to work. Two months later, Mr. Assange said in an interview that his internet had been restored.
[...]
In explaining his decision, Mr. Moreno accused Mr. Assange of installing electronic distortion equipment in the embassy, blocking security cameras, confronting and mistreating guards and gaining access to security files without permission.
On Thursday, the government said it had also arrested a computer programmer in Ecuador in connection with the Assange case, contending that WikiLeaks had interfered in Ecuador’s domestic political affairs.
WikiLeaks insisted it was not involved in the hack of Mr. Moreno’s phones, and that the Ecuadorean government was using the episode as a false pretext to toss out Mr. Assange.
It was no secret that the United States wanted him removed. It was also clear that Mr. Moreno is eager for international loans and better relations with the United States after the tensions that festered under his leftist predecessor, who granted Mr. Assange shelter in the embassy.
[..]
On Oct. 7, 2016, a tape was leaked showing Mrs. Clinton’s opponent, Donald J. Trump, boasting of sexually harassing women while filming a segment for the show “Access Hollywood,” sending Mr. Trump’s campaign into a major crisis.
Less than an hour later, WikiLeaks began publishing the first of thousands of hacked emails from Mr. Podesta’s account, creating a different controversy in the Clinton camp.
[Under an hour. Guess they delayed the release in hopes it would be seen as a coincidence. Under an hour, with all those other days and hours around.
Guess they were thinking if the release had occurred within say ten minutes it would be too obvious they were helping Trump to win the election.]
WikiLeaks continued to release the emails throughout October on a daily basis. American intelligence agents later concluded that the documents had been hacked by Russian operatives and laundered through WikiLeaks.
When Ecuador restricted Mr. Assange’s internet access in response, Mr. Correa’s administration said that it had acted on its own accord, not because of pressure from the United States. A spokesman for Mr. Kerry also denied that the Obama administration played any role.
But during the encounter on Oct. 14 — the night before Mr. Assange’s internet access was restricted — Patsy Thomasson, a veteran of the Clinton White House, and a senior aide to Mr. Kerry attended a dinner at the Ecuadorean Embassy hosted by Francisco Borja, the ambassador of Ecuador.
Attendees interviewed said it struck them as odd that such high-powered players would decide to attend a party hosted by a small country’s ambassador. They noted that neither Ms. Thomasson nor the Kerry aide was dressed in black tie for the ball, and that both stayed behind with the ambassador after other guests left for the event.
Ms. Thomasson, reached by phone, said she had been invited at the very last minute by someone whose wife couldn’t come, and that she did not recall having any conversations with the ambassador, “much less about Julian Assange.”
[...]
“From 2011, WikiLeaks did not leak relevant information regarding Correa’s government,” Mr. Villavicencio said. “That certainly shows hypocrisy and a double standard, contradicting journalism principles.”
The controversy was just the beginning of Mr. Assange’s difficulties. Mr. Moreno took over as president in May 2017 and soon broke with the policies of his predecessor.
Advisers to Mr. Moreno met with Paul Manafort, who had served as President Trump’s campaign chairman, and raised the possibility of releasing Mr. Assange in exchange for concessions like debt relief. Mr. Moreno said repeatedly that Mr. Assange’s time in the embassy should not be forever.
Then, Mr. Moreno’s government was hit by a familiar disruption: more leaks.
[...]
In March, an anonymous website, INApapers.org, published around 200 private emails related to Mr. Moreno, text messages written by his wife and photos of the president and his family taking luxurious vacations in Europe.
Mr. Moreno’s government was quick to blame the release on WikiLeaks, which it says Mr. Assange still controls.
On Thursday, Mr. Moreno repeated the claim, telling Ecuadorean journalists that Mr. Assange didn’t have the right to “hack private accounts or phones.”
Ed Wong contributed reporting from Washington, and Jose María León Cabrera from Warsaw.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/12/world/europe/ecuador-assange-wikileaks.html
"WikiLeaks: Assange will be expelled from Ecuadorian Embassy within 'hours to days'"
By Washington bureau chief Zoe Daniel with Emily Olson
Updated yesterday at 6:03pm
[...]
Washington torn on First Amendment protections
Ever since WikiLeaks burst onto the world stage in 2010 with the release of a cache of classified US data about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington has been divided on one big question.
Is WikiLeaks a publisher with protection under the First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom of the press, or is it a conspirator in anti-government activities?
In the first instance, it is the 2010 release of classified information by former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning .. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-31/bradley-manning-found-guilty-of-espionage/4854798 .. that the US is using to drive its conspiracy charge to get Assange extradited from the UK.
The newly unsealed indictment re-ups old allegations that Assange conspired with Manning to crack a password stored on US Defence Department computers.
Photo: The charges against Julian Assange relate to Chelsea Manning's release of classified data.
(AP: Alastair Grant)
"During the conspiracy, Manning and Assange engaged in real-time discussions regarding Manning's transmission of classified records to Assange," the Department of Justice wrote in a press release accompanying the indictment .. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-computer-hacking-conspiracy .
"The discussions also reflect Assange actively encouraging Manning to provide more information. During an exchange, Manning told Assange that 'after this upload, that's all I really have got left'. To which Assange replied, 'curious eyes never run dry in my experience'."
Assange was charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, which comes with a maximum penalty of five years in prison if he's proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
More charges have already been foreshadowed by Justice Department sources.
Manning looks unlikely to help.
Her 35-year sentence was commuted by the Obama administration after she'd spent almost seven years in prison, but she was jailed again last month, for contempt, after refusing to testify against Assange before a Grand Jury in Virginia.
Obama chose not to bring charges against Assange
A director of the American Civil Liberties Union has urged the US and Europe to tread carefully in bringing charges against Assange.
"Any prosecution by the United States of Mr Assange for WikiLeaks' publishing operations would be unprecedented and unconstitutional, and would open the door to criminal investigations of other news organisations," Ben Wizner wrote in a statement.
"Moreover, prosecuting a foreign publisher for violating US secrecy laws would set an especially dangerous precedent for US journalists, who routinely violate foreign secrecy laws to deliver information vital to the public's interest."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-12/donald-trump-administration-pressing-charges-julian-assange/10995934
-
As Ecuador Harbored Assange, It Was Subjected to Threats and Leaks
[...]
The United States may have played a central role in the effort to corral Mr. Assange. On Oct. 14, with the emails upending the campaign and the election just weeks away, a confidante of the Clintons and a top aide to Secretary of State John Kerry showed up at a dinner party hosted by the Ecuadorean ambassador before a ball, lingering with him as other guests left, several attendees said.
Mr. Assange’s internet was curtailed by the Ecuadorean Embassy the very next day.
But WikiLeaks quickly retaliated, issuing a cryptic message that a leak against Ecuador was on its way. The tactic seemed to work. Two months later, Mr. Assange said in an interview that his internet had been restored.
[...]
In explaining his decision, Mr. Moreno accused Mr. Assange of installing electronic distortion equipment in the embassy, blocking security cameras, confronting and mistreating guards and gaining access to security files without permission.
On Thursday, the government said it had also arrested a computer programmer in Ecuador in connection with the Assange case, contending that WikiLeaks had interfered in Ecuador’s domestic political affairs.
WikiLeaks insisted it was not involved in the hack of Mr. Moreno’s phones, and that the Ecuadorean government was using the episode as a false pretext to toss out Mr. Assange.
It was no secret that the United States wanted him removed. It was also clear that Mr. Moreno is eager for international loans and better relations with the United States after the tensions that festered under his leftist predecessor, who granted Mr. Assange shelter in the embassy.
[..]
On Oct. 7, 2016, a tape was leaked showing Mrs. Clinton’s opponent, Donald J. Trump, boasting of sexually harassing women while filming a segment for the show “Access Hollywood,” sending Mr. Trump’s campaign into a major crisis.
Less than an hour later, WikiLeaks began publishing the first of thousands of hacked emails from Mr. Podesta’s account, creating a different controversy in the Clinton camp.
[Under an hour. Guess they delayed the release in hopes it would be seen as a coincidence. Under an hour, with all those other days and hours around.
Guess they were thinking if the release had occurred within say ten minutes it would be too obvious they were helping Trump to win the election.]
WikiLeaks continued to release the emails throughout October on a daily basis. American intelligence agents later concluded that the documents had been hacked by Russian operatives and laundered through WikiLeaks.
When Ecuador restricted Mr. Assange’s internet access in response, Mr. Correa’s administration said that it had acted on its own accord, not because of pressure from the United States. A spokesman for Mr. Kerry also denied that the Obama administration played any role.
But during the encounter on Oct. 14 — the night before Mr. Assange’s internet access was restricted — Patsy Thomasson, a veteran of the Clinton White House, and a senior aide to Mr. Kerry attended a dinner at the Ecuadorean Embassy hosted by Francisco Borja, the ambassador of Ecuador.
Attendees interviewed said it struck them as odd that such high-powered players would decide to attend a party hosted by a small country’s ambassador. They noted that neither Ms. Thomasson nor the Kerry aide was dressed in black tie for the ball, and that both stayed behind with the ambassador after other guests left for the event.
Ms. Thomasson, reached by phone, said she had been invited at the very last minute by someone whose wife couldn’t come, and that she did not recall having any conversations with the ambassador, “much less about Julian Assange.”
[...]
“From 2011, WikiLeaks did not leak relevant information regarding Correa’s government,” Mr. Villavicencio said. “That certainly shows hypocrisy and a double standard, contradicting journalism principles.”
The controversy was just the beginning of Mr. Assange’s difficulties. Mr. Moreno took over as president in May 2017 and soon broke with the policies of his predecessor.
Advisers to Mr. Moreno met with Paul Manafort, who had served as President Trump’s campaign chairman, and raised the possibility of releasing Mr. Assange in exchange for concessions like debt relief. Mr. Moreno said repeatedly that Mr. Assange’s time in the embassy should not be forever.
Then, Mr. Moreno’s government was hit by a familiar disruption: more leaks.
[...]
In March, an anonymous website, INApapers.org, published around 200 private emails related to Mr. Moreno, text messages written by his wife and photos of the president and his family taking luxurious vacations in Europe.
Mr. Moreno’s government was quick to blame the release on WikiLeaks, which it says Mr. Assange still controls.
On Thursday, Mr. Moreno repeated the claim, telling Ecuadorean journalists that Mr. Assange didn’t have the right to “hack private accounts or phones.”
Ed Wong contributed reporting from Washington, and Jose María León Cabrera from Warsaw.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/12/world/europe/ecuador-assange-wikileaks.html
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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