Donald Trump’s lawyer said on Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange should not be prosecuted and he compared WikiLeaks publications to the Pentagon Papers.
By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News
Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, said Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange had not done “anything wrong” and should not go to jail for disseminating stolen information just as major media does.
“Let’s take the Pentagon Papers,” Giuliani told Fox News. “The Pentagon Papers were stolen property, weren’t they? It was in The New York Times and The Washington Post. Nobody went to jail at The New York Times and The Washington Post.”
Giuliani said there were “revelations during the Bush administration” such as Abu Ghraib. “All of that is stolen property taken from the government, it’s against the law. But once it gets to a media publication, they can publish it,” Giuliani said, “for the purpose of informing people.”
“You can’t put Assange in a different position,” he said. “He was a guy who communicated.”
Giuliani said, “We may not like what [Assange] communicates, but he was a media facility. He was putting that information out,” he said. “Every newspaper and station grabbed it, and published it.”
The U.S. government has admitted that it has indicted Assange for publishing classified information, but it is battling in court to keep the details of the indictment secret. As a lawyer and close advisor to Trump, Giuliani could have influence on the president’s and the Justice Department’s thinking on Assange.
Giuliani also said there was no coordination between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks. “I was with Donald Trump day in and day out during the last four months of the campaign,” he said. “He was as surprised as I was about the WikiLeaks disclosures. Sometimes surprised to the extent of ‘Oh my god, did they really say that?’ We were wondering if it was true. They [the Clinton campaign] never denied it.”
Giuliani said: “The thing that really got Hillary is not so much that it was revealed, but they were true. They actually had people as bad as that and she really was cheating on the debates. She really was getting from Donna Brazile the questions before hand. She really did completely screw Bernie Sanders.”
“Every bit of that was true,” he went on. “Just like the Pentagon Papers put a different view on Vietnam, this put a different view on Hillary Clinton.”
Giuliani said, “It was not right to hack. People who did it should go to jail, but no press person or person disseminating that for the purpose of informing did anything wrong.”
Assange has been holed up as a refugee in the Ecuador embassy in London for the past six years fearing that if he were to leave British authorities would arrest him and extradite him to the U.S. for prosecution.
You can watch the entire Fox News interview with Giuliani here:
Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Sunday Times of London and numerous other newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @unjoe .
Never thought I’d be agreeing with Giuliani on just about anything but I do on this. What I’d like explained to me is how a citizen or news organization from another country can be indicted by the U.S. government for releasing information concerning anything. Is there some international treaty I’m not familiar with or is it just the Government overextending it’s influence?
I believe it’s because the ‘crime’ happened in the US.
I certainly hope that Giuliani believes this. I don’t know if I trust him.
Great article- keep up the good work.
The President should pardon both Corsi, Stone and Assange – these are heroes bringing the corruption to the attention of the World and the American People.
Why is it illegal for the free press to report if most of the leftist geared press have been reporting is political opinionated hatred and bigotry. If there should be a protection of the amendment rights- it should apply to all Americans and Press Agencies – not just those that oppose the President. I really respect Giuliani for being a straight shooter and a stalwart defender of justice.
I was one of 144 journalists from 39 countries who signed a statement of support in 2011 for Wikileaks and Julian Assange. It’s said when you steal from the government you will be criminally prosecuted — but when the government steals from you, it’s for “national security!” Not right! Or ethical the lies of government used to justfy deep state corruption.
Further, Giuliani was a mouthpiece for 9/11’s act of treason. However, I would agree with Giuliani on this, as corrupt as he was on 9/11 as a voice for the fraudulent “war on terror” that made permanent war and the treason behind it as US foreign policy!
For the first time I agree completely with Giuliani. The entire case against Assange is a sham. Our US government hates anyone who exposes their dirty secrets and war crimes.
On 20 Dec., two German members of parliament [the Bundestag] visited Assange. Here is their press release on their visit:
Sevim Dagdelen
Heike Hänsel
German MPs Heike Hänsel and Sevim Dagdelen, deputy chairwomen of the
parliamentary group DIE LINKE in the German parliament, visited today
publisher and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in London. After the
meeting in the Ecuadorian embassy, they said:
“Dear representatives of the media,
1. First of all, we would like to thank the Embassy of Ecuador for making
this meeting possible for us, and of course Julian Assange for agreeing to a
visit under these difficult conditions.
2. We have conveyed to Julian Assange the solidarity greetings of the Left
Party and the solidarity of the many supporters from Germany. The people
in Germany and throughout the world are indebted to Mr Assange. He has
contributed to bringing to light the war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and
the illegal activities of the secret services, particularly the CIA. He has
opened our eyes to how dirty and bloody these wars were and are, and how
much we have been deceived by our governments. He deserves our solidarity.
3. Julian Assange was very pleased with our visit. This is the first visit by
Members since March after months of suspension. We would very much like
more colleagues from other countries to come to London and work for a
humanitarian solution to this situation. As parliamentarians, we should ask
our governments to act. Unfortunately, the German Government has so far
done nothing to find a solution. We have regretted this to Julian Assange.
Also, we call on fellow MPs in the UK and across Europe to work for a
humanitarian solution.
4. The fight for an end to the imprisonment of Julian Assange is at the same
time a fight against the attempt of the US government and legal authorities to
get hold of a journalist in Europe who has published in Europe. We oppose
this extraterritorial political persecution across international borders. We
cannot accept that the USA should enforce its laws against whistleblowers
in Europe as well.
5. We are very pleased that Julian Assange is still optimistic and in good
spirits, even though he has been in such a difficult situation for more than
six years. We agree that the British and Ecuadorian governments can find a
solution and provide diplomatic assurances against extradition to the US.
If the Ecuadorian authorities end the embassy asylum, Julian Assange could
be arrested in the UK and extradited to the US, where he would face a long
prison sentence or even the death penalty.
If someone is to be extradited to a country where he is facing a death
sentence because of his political activities, it is undoubtedly sufficient under
international law to grant him refugee status. Article 33 of the Geneva
Convention expressly prohibits States Parties from expulsion or rejection of
a refugee across the borders of territories “where his life or freedom would be
threatened because of his political convictions”.
We would therefore like to thank the Ecuadorian government for granting
political asylum to Julian Assange in its embassy in 2012 to defend freedom
of speech and freedom of the press. We trust that the new government under
President Lenín Moreno will continue to ensure the health and safety of
Julian Assange in embassy asylum.
Ladies and gentlemen,
6. Julian Assange and Wikileaks made history. We have a moral obligation to
prevent war crimes and uncover war crimes by informing. This is what
Assange and Wikileaks have done. And for that Assange deserves a prize, no
political persecution and no trial.
Our next steps in this case will include strengthening the international
solidarity of parliamentarians with Assange and thus the freedom of the
press. Because this is not about the person of Assange. This is about the right
to publish information in the public interest. It is about our democracy.
Therefore, 36 MPs from nearly a dozen European countries have written to
U.N. General Secretary António Guterres, Britisch Prime Minister Theresa
May and Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno.
7. We call on German Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas to show his
attitude and to stand up for the health and safety of Julian Assange. By
revealing secret documents, Julian Assange made public crimes committed
by the US Army in the Iraq war, from which the then SPD-led Federal
Government under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder had also distanced itself.
Thank you very much for your attention.”
London, 20th December 2018
And here is a video of their half-hour press conference (mostly in English — their answers in German to German reporters say much the same):
https://youtu.be/6V4YNSG77Gw
#Unity4J
Thanks for posting this. I hope something happens as a result.
Heiko Maas: Zeigen Sie bitte Mut und Anstand.
Thanks for sharing this. The legal indictment is the best part; a rogue nation running criminally amok. How widely was it viewed/shared in Germany?
I think Giuliani/Trump are lying in order to lure Julian Assange to the US, thinking he’ll be safe, only to be thrown into isolation/interrogated/tortured/disappeared.
I absolutely agree!
If Trump really wants to put the “deep state” and the leadership of the Democratic Party’s nose out of joint he should Pardon Assange.
That will get them nuts!
Every now and then, I get a glimpse of sanity emanating from the White House and this is one of those very few occasions. Giuliani is absolutely correct that Assange was acting strictly as a member of the press in informing people of what the government was doing. Any laws that have been enacted criminalizing the publication of information received from anyone, stolen or not, is a violation of the first amendment regardless of the level of classification involved. The first amendment makes no allowances for security classification levels.
Furthermore, the people have a right to know what the government is doing, especially when it is doing it to the people. There is no excuse for the government hiding actions it is taking against its own people. The classification of such information should itself be a crime against the people. In that regard, Assange is a true patriot and so was Edward Snowden who provided the information to him.
Wow. File another one under “even the right-wing Reps can do the right thing, even if unprincipled opportunism is the only reason.” First a prez willing to actually consider a sane (if tiny) non-interventionist step or two, now this…
Somebody should have corrected Rudy that the releases were leaked, not hacked, but this is refreshingly (and unbelievably) rational stuff otherwise. This is just surreal.
Good lord, am I agreeing with Giuliani, the guy that brought up 9/11 at every single opportunity during the primaries in 2007, and had a mafioso as a father, who made his career prosecuting competitors?
It’s sad, everybody is dirty, even the “good guys”.
Watching what governments do–it`s like watching the” Godfather” movie— only it`s not make believe—-it`s reality.
Hey, whatever happened to that Luke Harding guy who made up the story about Assange at the Guardian?
http://opensociet.org/2019/01/02/five-weeks-after-the-guardians-viral-blockbuster-assange-manafort-scoop-no-evidence-has-emerged-just-stonewalling/
Greenwald is wondering as well @ the Intercept
And who, may I ask, is Giuliani??? I certainly would not trust any promise given by the US – none.
Rudi Giuliani was Mayor of New York and an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for the presidency. He’s a close friend of Trump’s, too.
Exposing criminals is not a crime if anything these people who expose the criminals
should be rewarded not prosecuted unless you are on the side of the criminals.
But the criminals rather not be exposed. Stepping on their toes very hazardous to ones feet.
Exactly Tony….
The right is far more skeptical of government abuses of power than the left. The fact that a leading political figure on the right and close associate of Trump is supporting Assange, is not at all unexpected to those who have been open to the internal reforms that have been taking place in the Republican party since the Cheney/Bush days.
The Republican party is currently the lessor of two evils.
It is, however, a politically convenient position on Giuliani’s part. I doubt very much that he was so sympathetic to Wikileaks 10 or more years ago.
10 years ago, I would have joined the chorus claiming the right is a Neonazi party, that is exactly who Cheney and the Bushes were. I understand, that there have been a lot of changes that have taken place since then as there has been a backlash by the old guard military and intelligence that have rejected the dark vision of these criminals, who are now ensconced with the left.
Ah, another kindred spirit. I was disgusted with the Republican party after Bush lied us into a war in Iraq over a non-existent weapons of mass destruction program, but it got worse when George W. Bush won his 3rd term, after he got a really good tan, and took a diction class..
Now there is absolutely nothing respectable about the Democratic party.
I think the terms “left” and “right” are really obsolete. The war mongers and corporatists have embedded themselves in both parties. There are a few members from both parties who know the Deep State is the real enemy, but they have been largely marginalized, and hardly ever get to be heard outside CSPAN.
I can only hope that it is finally time for the two party system to collapse. I think Trump’s election was a sign that the general public has had enough, and they are reaching out for alternatives. Bernie’s campaign success was also an indicator of that general discontent, and he would have been president if not for the DNC’s sabotage. We need a more well known standard bearer to come to the forefront of the Green Party. Someone with “Star Power” that the MSM can’t ignore could take the Green Party platform to the TV debates. That would be the beginning of real “hope and change”. Let’s hope that happens in 2020.
Bingo!
Moreover, I think Trump might be surprised at the support he would get from the “left” if he pardoned Assange… brought most of the troops home… stopped arming, training and inciting fascists in Ukraine… and eased the tensions with Russia, China and Iran. The deep state might try to impeach him, but, if he did all that, I say he gets re-elected.
Internal reforms? They seem like a bunch of spineless yesmen. The race just got going too fast to keep up with…with bulk collection, and it seems like Dems comprehended nothing. Which is worse…to be so spineless, or to be so drowsy?
Seemed to me for a while that initially Pubs in the national security establishment [nse] were for Trump. Then they became divided–Comey stayed pro-Trump and blasted Clinton. Now I don’t know what happened.
Yes, we all know this was his past… Feb ’15 “Giuliani’s disgust with our first African-American president is deeply rooted in his own security-business interests, which depend on magnifying the potential danger from terrorism and gang violence to the highest extent possible.”
https://www.thenation.com/article/giulianis-love-his-country-equal-money-he-makes/
It would be nice, but I’m doubting a change in philosophy. Seems like they think it’s smart (for some reason) to cast a lure way, way out yonder over near some shaded bank. IOW over our way or the Libertarians’ way?
Have a bad cold (are any any good?), and have been reviewing things. My notes (numbers are durations)…
Binney 1:27, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB3KR8fWNh0
Drake 58 min https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjwW1JlGG4o
I am under no illusions of the purity of DC apparatchiks. Trump pulling out of Syria represents a significant departure from MIC interests, just look at Lockhead Martin, Rayethon and Carlyle Group’s recent stock prices to determine the impact of that decision.
Wars are no less devastating when they are instigated by a culturally sensitive or feminist president rather than a bigoted one.
Well said…
I’m Australian & ashamed that our gutless Politicians. They bowed long ago to the USA in resolving NOT to stand by & protect
Julian Assange who is an Australian citizen. Likewise the silence from the Australian MSM is deafening – gutless so called Journalists who have colluded with Govt to refrain from mentioning Assange at all. It is disgusting behaviour.
He has demonstrably done nothing against the Law & his prosecution by the UK Govt is criminally lawless as is American arrogance in charging him in the first place. USA days of ruling the World are over – get used to it.
The days of the USA ruling the world may be over, but the days of the USA ruling the UK and AU carry onward.
More like the days of the British oligarchy ruling over the US and Australia carry onward. Christopher Steele is a Brit is he not.
Well said James I will also add that the western governments and
most of the media are controlled by criminal corporations and so called
Elite,The money people who think because they’ve got the money
it entitles them to rule the world even though they made their money
by dishonesty and criminality
I suspect the case that they put together revolves around allegations of conspiracy with respect to communications with Pfc Manning.
Giuliani has got to be preparing the ground for some sort of amnesty for Assange, likely in Exchange for some agreement involving testimony, this will give trump a lot of political cover in order to bring an end to the Mueller investigation, that much is obvious but what everyone should watch is what ever else is going to happen at the same time, hopefully the intervention thing is on hold for a while, though the stupidity going on in Ukraine right now is spectacular so that always needs to be watched but whatever it is and whether some sort of bait and switch happens and whomever is ultimately pulling those strings the media fiasco that is sure to follow will be the perfect screen for the next si-op, not to be overly paranoid but these folks never let a crisis go to waste.
Thanks to Joe Lauria for the head’s up and Rudy for the inspiration!
Even a Broken Clock…
I agree with Rudy Giulani. That will take a spell to digest.
Meanwhile, though, he did still distort something that should not be allowed to stand because they could have legal and social consequences.
The relationship to data that Julian Assange has with Wikileaks is not that he is a hacker, nor that he is a whistleblower, but that he is a publisher. That means that a trial based on the 1917 Espionage Act should demonstrate that the act itself is unconstitutional, a clear violation of the First Amendment.
Of course, the fact that it should get struck down by no means indicates that it would.
#auspolitics and other #USA lackeys, wont have a clue what #giuliani is saying. #assange will be screwed by the the swamp dwellers.
the only people that ever risked their lives for the freedom of the American people was Assange and Snowden
Snowden I doubt. Q drops on him.
Why trust Q?
Good for Giuliani
I am certain that we supporters of Assange agree to give you a round of applause. Thank You, Mr. Giuliani for your wisdom, and fairness. Perhaps you might persuade President Trump to have Assange released without charges.Trump would have a lot more happy followers if he did so.
Best Wishes for Happy New Year!
Trump wants Assange to testify and vindicate him from the Mueller hysteria so he can be assured of serving another term.
I would take that if Assange was freed from all this persecution!
Here we have an Australian citizen, hold up in a “friendly” country, has no charges against him & what appears to be no human rights.
And not a word about it in Australia, what a bloody piss weak country we are.
Australia is a USA Puppet state!
Smartest thing Giuliani has said in his lifetime.
you are exactly right
I wholeheartedly agree with Rudy Giuliani, Pres. Trump’s lawyer; and as a lawyer, he knows Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange should not be prosecuted for publishing information he had received.
Daniel Ellsberg was never prosecuted for releasing the Pentagon Papers to the NY Times and the Washington Post, so Assange shouldn’t be prosecuted for publishing similar type information on Wikileaks. It would be a grave injustice to arrest/prosecute this man. The reason he sought and was granted asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy six years ago was his fear of being arrested by the UK authorities and extradited to the US to face espionage charges.
For Heaven’s sake, leave Assange alone, he’s done nothing wrong. All he did was publish information to inform the public and that isn’t a crime. It certainly isn’t espionage. After all, Ellsberg released similar type information on the Vietnam War to the NY Times and the Washington Post and was never arrested/prosecuted. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Giuliani’s 100% correct in his statements on Assange.
Daniel Ellsberg absolutely was prosecuted for leaking the Pentagon Papers, though the case collapsed at trial under the weight of DoJ and FBI misconduct.
But the NY Times and WashPost were not prosecuted for printing the revelations – and that’s the pertinent parallel to Wikileaks.
Good point. Daniel Ellsberg actually removed the Pentagon Papers from the Pentagon. The NY Times and Washington Post received them. Julian Assange did not remove any documents from the CIA or DNC. He received them from those who did (e.g. Edward Snowden, Seth Rich, both of whom paid a stiff price).
No, although people often say that, the government tried to prosecute both papers. See New York Times Co. v. United States or Behind the Race to Publish the Top-Secret Pentagon Papers. The ultimate Supreme Court decision is one precedent that Wikileaks would rely on.
Not quite: The U.S. government sought to get an injunction from the court forbidding the Pentagon Papers’ publication, but that was not a criminal prosecution. The Supreme Court ruled against this so-called “prior restraint” on free speech and freedom of the press on First Amendment grounds.
Once publication was a fait accompli, the U.S. never tried to prosecute the newspapers under the Espionage Act or other grounds – which is what many suspect is in store for Wikileaks, and which is why that would indeed be a dreadful new type of attack on the First Amendment.
(Of course, if the government had gotten its injunction back in 1971, and the Times and the Post had published anyway, they would have been subject to prosecution for, if nothing else, criminal contempt of court.)
The government did “try to”, meaning it did threaten to prosecute. It did assert that the newspapers were breaking laws like the Espionage act. Look at those articles and the links therein, like the telegram from John Mitchell after the “fait accompli” publication, saying “publication of this information is directly prohibited by the provisions of the Espionage Law, Title 18, United States Code 793.” So again, it isn’t as new as claimed.
This is stupid. I’m not going to be led into vouching for the beneficence of John Mitchell, but neither the Nixon administration nor its successors tried to do what it is feared is about to happen under Trump.
The relevant point is that the legal precedent of the U.S. criminalizing the reporting and publication of state secrets has not yet been set, and that’s what people are afraid will happen in the Assange case, over and above their concern for him and Wikileaks.
But congratulations on having read something, Calgacus. Very impressive.
The government did make threats way back then, based on the same theory as suggested now against Assange. It did sue the Times after it published & Mitchell did rely on the (criminal) Espionage Act as a basis for that civil proceeding. I haven’t read the stuff from back then and do not know the totality of the government’s cases. I don’t have the time. But I think what I have read and cited is clearly interesting and relevant. And shows “not quite” might not be applicable only to my comments. Why this is stupid – I call it getting things right – I do not understand.
Well stated. The way the MSM has ignored the Pentagon Papers precedent, and ignored the plight of one of the world’s most courageous newsmen, shows their abject surrender to the CIA and its bankster masters.
This statement by Guliani seems to me too significant to be a mere throwaway comment. It looks like advance preparation of Trump’s base, and ultimately the country, for the direction Trump is planning to go. It is a direct strike at the oligarchy because it directly strikes one of their key efforts to cover up their criminal operations. In that sense it is a companion to the pull-out of American troops from Syria. Trumps’s recent shots at the Fed, a criminal bankster operation, also fit this pattern. More and more people are becoming aware of the extent and depth of the war profiteering banksters’ nefarious control over American politicians and press, because so much information is now out there on the internet. e.g. http://warprofiteerstory.blogspot.com
Man, I really hope you’re right. It’s so hard to put my trust in Donald Trump, but at the moment, we’ve got nobody else.
This is one time I agree with Rudy Giuliani! Assange is a hero in my book.
Yes, Assange is a hero.
Interesting that the political left is now against the truth-tellers, they are also pro-war (against bringing the troops back home), and, if they’re like Hillary, also pro-bank and pro-Goldman Sachs.
And it is much worse still: read Draitser’s article in Counterpunch, where he shows that the CIA is grooming former CIA agents to run for political office as “progressives” to take over the millennial “revolution” started by Bernie Sanders. If these guys get elected, we will in time end up with the CIA being the government. How much more dystopian can it get?
Anyone who is pro-war and pro-bank, and against the truth-tellers, is not on the political left.
> Interesting that the political left is now against the truth-tellers,
> they are also pro-war (against bringing the troops back home), and,
> if they’re like Hillary, also pro-bank and pro-Goldman Sachs.
The people you are talking about may be to the left of most of the Republicans in Congress, but that hardly makes them “the political left”. And I suspect the Clintons would be quite offended by that description — and rightly so.
I read that book. Meh.
First, Trump does something corrupt: He buys a woman’s silence, covers up contacts with Russians, or fires investigators who try to find out what happened. Then, when subordinates disclose his corrupt acts, he says they’re lying. Then, when the subordinates present evidence to support their allegations—memos, phone calls, witnesses, financial records—Trump and Giuliani accuse them of treachery for collecting or releasing the evidence. In the upside-down logic of Trump and Giuliani, anyone who proves Trump is lying can’t be trusted.
Except that most of your accusations are invented smears. The fact that Trump paid off tow mistresses so they wouldn’t talk during the election campaign is only natural to protect his family, notably Melania and Barron Trump from absurd smear attacks. It is legal to do that.
Sorry, my apologies it seems the only way that I can see all comments.
Like so many who’ve commented on the content of WikiLeaks emails and focused predominantly on the “Hillary Clinton screwed Bernie Sanders” angle (admittedly newsworthy), Rudy Giuliani does so as well, – without mentioning the much more important, explosive revelations: those emails showing Clinton’s knowledge of Saudi-Qatari financing of ISIS. Julian Assange told John Pilger in an interview shortly before election day 2016, in an interview now seen millions of times worldwide (remarkably, turned down by all major media organizations but for RT, which aired Assange-Pilger), that he (Assange) considered the state-sponsorship/terrorist financing emails the “…most important of them all”.
Imagine a famous male politician revealed to have physically abused his 1st wife with the conscious intention of forcing a breakup in their marriage, millions of Americans talking about the abusive husband across the nation, everywhere, at water coolers, restaurants, bars, etc., – while totally ignoring the much more horrendous revelation that the male politician is also a serial killer of dozens of human beings.
That Clinton was aware of Saudi financing of terrorism in Syria is an important revelation. I would bet she was also aware of the weapons rat line from Libya, CIA terrorist training and support in Jordan, and the flow of weapons from the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.
Giuliani is absolutely correct. Assange is a journalist reporting information and exercising his right to free speech. All too often, so called “national security” secrecy has nothing to do with protecting a nation and everything to do with covering up criminal activity. I have thoroughly investigated the source of Assange’s source of information on the DNC that caused the DNC head to resign. That info was passed to Assange by Craig Murray who most likely received it from Seth Rich, who was shortly after murdered. It was not hacked. Seth Rich worked at the DNC, was a Bernie Sanders suporter, and has access to the DNC computer database. The info was leaked.
Giuliani must have swallowed some truth serum unintentionally! If Trump had stuck closer to the truth in his presidency, he could have been a powerful figure for change. But his life long patterns of lying and cheating will undo him in the end.
Mr. Giuliani is correct in his evaluation and comparison to other U.S. media whose journalists violated laws by releasing classified
information, YET Mr. Assange has been indicted by the U.S. government for release of information which had earlier been released by the U.S. media. No journalist, to my knowledge, has been charged for this crime in America!
This clearly is an abuse by our governlment.
Welcome to the totally crooked US Government!
Though I am not a lawyer , I have always wondered what was the difference between what Assange did and many other incidents of delivering information to the public.This whole thing about Assange being a special culprit is all about them not liking what he disclosed and not about the illegality of the disclosure itself. We have all been scammed on the Assange issue.
Yes, Guy, they don’t like what he disclosed PLUS they fear what else he would disclose if he were free to continue working.
An important update that reflects a split in the ruling classes (not that I am any fan of Giuliani).
If I may be so bold Joe I think every article about Assange should refer to and link to the UN decision that he is being arbitrarily detained and the most recent decision demanding his release.
Then, it logically follows that Trump should pardon Assange.
Wow! If he did that two things would happen.
One, the main stream media and the intelligence community would go absolutely nuts in condemning Trump – displaying their true colors as enemies of citizen rights and accountability.
Two, Americans who oppose government overreach would flock to Trump’s support.
What a great New Year’s Day gift that would be.
If I were Assange I would never go anywhere near the USA ever, if I were released. The risk is too great, and why would he want to anyway? If he is delivered to the USA he is lost forever.
I agree with you.
He probably couldn’t even leave the Ecuadorian Embassy with the British outside. The British intelligence community can’t get over loss-of-empire status. They think that they are major players on the international scene. They would arrest or kill Assange just to prove that they are still “players.”
> Then, it logically follows that Trump should pardon Assange.
How can he pardon a man who has never been prosecuted for, much less convicted, of any crime?
One point that I think needs further clarification is the deleted texts between Strzok and Page. When Bill Binney says the NSA has everything, would it have those missing texts as well? If so, it is time for Trump to demand that everything that the NSA has be released.
Yes, Strzok is at the epicenter of everything. Even the President has acknowledged that.
How important are Strzok’s texts to his lover? Very important. He often bragged to impress her.
If there’s a way to do an online petition, there should be a petition to get the NSA to release Srzok’z texts.
Looking at the comment, many can be described as loving the message, hating the messenger. Giuliani is persuasive regarding Assange, whatever his motivation.
That Mueller has waited until a Democrat House may be coincidence, but is it reasonable to expect the report well before now. I think so. Many others may come to the same conclusion. But whatever, we can expect another circus when it is done similar to those regarding the “Wall” and the Cavanaugh ones.
We seem to be coming to a point where the disgust with Washington is so great that coming elections might result in a real house cleaning.
Does anyone in Washington of importance really care about the rest of us?
Finally some sanity. It is as if the WaPo and NYT editors had to be holed up in an embassy for many years aftere publishing the Pentagon Papers. Even Ellsberg, the leaker to the media, escaped being denied his freedom.
It’s still early, but what will be interesting is if and how the MSM press will report (on) this.
It will be the litmus test for how Julian’s case will be dealt with by the MSM.
Keep an eye on CNN and MSNBC.
This is very good news, and may even inspire some cautious optimism on Assange’s behalf, especially when combined with the other areas where Trump seems to be showing intention to head in the right direction in 2019, and stand up to the Establishment. I’ve been reading everything I can regarding the decision to withdraw from Syria, but one of the things I had postponed (until yesterday) was actually reading through Trump’s entire Twitter feed for the month of December. Not only does he seem to be holding his ground on the Syria decision, but there are also positive messages regarding the continuing peace process on the Korean peninsula, and he of a big deal with China coming into being in the next three months. There’s the congratulatory message to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, specifically referencing his popular electoral mandate and looking forward to working closely together. And of course there’s lots of fun-to-read material about “St. Comey” and Mueller’s band of “17 Angry Democrats” – including specific mention of a White House counter-Mueller report in preparation, now already 80+ pages long in draft form.
I came here this morning after I happened to listen to the Giuliani interview which autoplayed after something else I’d selected on Youtube. I almost did a double-take. I looked at the channel name, which was not one I was familiar with, and it wasn’t Fox. Up to that point I had been listening rather casually, but now I found myself questioning whether what I was listening to might be a mirror of something very old. Since I wasn’t actually out of bed yet, it could even have been a dream. So I started concentrating on clues about the date, and was most relieved when the hosts started saying “Happy New Year.”
Indeed, Happy New Year!
I can only hope Giuliani can influence Trump to do the right thing. Nobody in any position of power or influence in Assange’s own country, Australia, has lifted a finger on his behalf the entire time.
Even a broken clock gives the right time twice a day.
Donald J. Trump the people of this great country will not be silent if the persecution of Publisher and Truth teller Julian Assange moves forward. Against the backdrop of #FakeNews Wikileaks has been instrumental in exposing the Clinton cabal and ensuring your victory against her. We are greatful for his help and we are demanding, not asking that you return that favor on behalf of the American people and issue a Pre-Emptive Presidential Pardon IMMEDIATLEY!!! #OperationFreeAssange
As an Englishman in my opinion the continued house arrest of Julian Assange in London (living in real fear for his life) for his political journalism as practiced through WIKILEAKS represents the most outrageous and vindictive act by any British government in history. By any standards the government has mutated into a secret society acting according to its own contrived rules when confronted with facts by credible whistleblowers; denial not admissible in the court of public opinion. Apparently the British government ordered by US government to arrest Julian Assange on any pretext. This matter needs to be resolved post haste; in the name of decency and mercy.
Actually, indicting him is to bring him into the witness protection program for THE MAIN witness, for prosecuting the perps of massive crimes of treason and sedition, and against humanity. He is the key to draining the swamp, which must and will proceed (with or without him), to enable MAGA, and restoring the World, via its Sovereign Nations, to a healthy and humane order.
Many thanks Waldron, we on this side of the pond appreciate the perspective.
Decency and mercy from the rabid May régime is not “highly likely”!!!!!
Joe Lauria writes: “The U.S. government has admitted that it has indicted Assange for publishing classified information, but it is battling in court to keep the details of the indictment secret.”
Two problems with this:
(1) It is not accurate to say that the government has “admitted that it has indicted Assange”. Factual version: an assistant U.S. attorney assigned to the Wikileaks case seems – through incompetence – to have inadvertently revealed a sealed indictment against Assange by cut-and-pasting a reference to it into a filing in an unrelated case. The Justice Dept. is not commenting, but media reports cite unnamed sources who say the unintentional disclosure was true.
I don’t see any reason to credit DoJ with transparency and respect for the public they don’t possess. (And it is still conceivable the indictment does not exist, and something else is going on.)
(2) It is unequivocally not true that the government has admitted, or unintentionally disclosed, or in any other way revealed that it has indicted Assange specifically “for publishing classified information”.
This is not a small point, in my opinion: if the U.S. has decided to destroy Assange, but is leery about crossing the constitutional Rubicon of prosecuting a journalist or publisher for revealing state secrets, they may well reach into the capacious grab bag of Federal criminal statues and try to come up with something completely different and less precedent-setting to nail him with.
For example, I’ve long wondered whether Assange and Wikileaks put themselves into legal jeopardy with the U.S. when they assisted Edward Snowden in his flight from Hong Kong after he may already have been a fugitive from U.S. justice (or “justice”, if you prefer).
I have wondered over the past weeks if that incompetence (of inadvertently revealing a sealed indictment) itself might not have been an act of whistleblowing…
I find that difficult to believe, but indeed I was editorializing by ascribing the DoJ filing to incompetence, and amid so much official obscurantism it is better to clearly distinguish between what little we know and what we are surmising.
“Assange and Wikileaks put themselves into legal jeopardy with the U.S. when they assisted Edward Snowden in his flight from Hong Kong”
You present that as fact.
Is it?
“WikiLeaks Statement On Edward Snowden’s Exit From Hong Kong” https://wikileaks.org/WikiLeaks-Statement-On-Edward.html
I’m not indicting them of anything, for heaven’s sake, but their involvement with Snowden at that stage was openly acknowledged and widely reported.
In the 2001 Vopper case, the Supreme Court decided a journalist publishing info cannot be held liable for the actions of his source.
Therefore, Assange’s responsibility here is to make sure what he publishes is true and that it is newsworthy. It is.
The Obama administration decided they could not prosecute Assange without going after the NYTimes and WaPost too, because they also published Wikileaks material.
On paper, Assange is in the clear.
The problem is what happens if he meets with an “accident” such as a bonesaw in the embassy or he falls out of the plane on the ride to the US. Stranger things…
https://opensociet.org/2018/11/26/forget-jim-acosta-if-youre-worried-about-trumps-assault-on-the-press-news-of-a-wikileaks-indictment-is-the-real-scare-story/
Bartnicki v. Vopper is the precedent for trying Assange.
https://www.oyez.org/cases/2000/99-1687
So yes, even a broken clock is right two times a day. Guliani is correct this time.
If Giuliani thinks it’s to his advantage to say that rain falls downward he will gladly trumpet that truth. If it benefited him to assert it falls up, then he would proclaim the falsehood – and belittle and insult anyone with the temerity to maintain otherwise.
Big deal.
I suppose publicizing things like this may make it marginally more awkward for the Trump administration to move against Assange if and when it has the opportunity – to the same degree that I’m wearing down the Brooklyn Bridge by rubbing my hand along the stone towers while walking across it.
Good. Now let’s have him convince Trump.
Trump says he didn’t collude? Well, give Assange a conditional pardon — those are a real thing. The condition should be he comes here and tells us all about it.
I’ll bet a lot of VIPs would look like complete fools from that. It would no doubt start with Brennan.
No, I don’t think Trump did collude. He isn’t competent to do that. They didn’t need his “help” to do what they did.
Whether you like Giuliano or not is irrelevant. It’s what he says and that is the truth. He talks logic. The media are doing exactly the same as Assange, publish the truth and fake news ……..
Good development!
Giuliani has become the court jester to King Donald in this disgraceful display of American politics at its worst. The rest of the world is cringing and in disbelief as to how you can do this to yourselves. But it’s like a train wreck – we can’t stop watching. But innocent are going to die and that’s where it hurts.
Grant J Raeburn, I fully understand your concern. But, as a citizen of another country, I suggest that ‘the rest of the world’ or a good part thereof was cringing long before the election of Trump. US imperialism and the resulting toll of death and destruction and general havoc around the globe is the same whether under a smooth-talking charismatic POTUS who superficially observes the niceties of diplomacy or a total buffoon.
Long live Julian Assange! Let us hope that Giuliani has the ability to influence Trump to kill Assange’s indictment.
Never thought I’d agree with anything coming out of Giuliani’s mouth.
But here he is telling the simple, unvarnished truth.
It is perhaps the best reflection on the United States today that we find such an act remarkable.
Excellent news Joe! This man definitely has the President’s ear. I appreciate all you are doing for Julian Assange and free press.
And I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to you on the vigils. Happiest of New Years to you!
I am sorry but I do not trust Giuliani. This may be a trap.
I don’t believe that at all. Giuliani speaks off the cuff as Trump does. People who speak off the cuff are usually telling the truth – that is a psychologically sound truth. He’d have to be a monster to go on national news and say something like that and be lying. He would be discredited and he knows that.
This was not off the cuff remark. He was speaking to FOX News.
“Off-the-cuff” typically means truth UNTIL such truth is inconvenient;
“Off-the-cuff” can also precede falsehood as a Trojan horse.
Especially when such remarks are used by lying, bullying, paid sycophants such as rudy.
I agree totally with providing protection to Assange! How giuliani gets there is another question.
The problem with giuliani is he is just not trustworthy. His latest gambit is running to speak at a recent PKK gathering in paris for thousands of dollars. With due respect to his supporters on this blog. he is a grifter.
PKK is a very dodgy org and has a very violent history.
Then there is his involvement in 911-he will never escape that rap!
Again, I am 100% in agreement in getting support to Assange but it does not help to provide false hope, if that is what it is. With giuliani, trump, and now with pompeo sharping his knives, assumage knows full well it is extremely important to walk carefully for it is a minefield out there.
An obvious trap as well !
Rudy is right, but Rudy should be prosecuted for his 9/11 criminal act’s!!!
Sep 5, 2016 9/11 Suspects: Rudy Giuliani
Mayor Giuliani oversaw the illegal destruction of the 9/11 crime scene and is criminally liable for the deaths of hundreds of emergency workers for not passing on prior warnings about the collapses of the Twin Towers.
https://youtu.be/Cl85JSvDmsA
September 07, 2016 September 11, 2001: The 15th Anniversary of the Crime and Cover-up of the Century “What Really Happened”?
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to be trucked away and shipped to China – an order that constitutes disturbing a crime scene – which is a federal crime.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/september-11-2001-the-15th-anniversary-of-the-crime-and-cover-up-of-the-century/5544414
I was just about to say the same thing. Giuliani has a lot of 911 blood on his hands and should be accorded no credibility. He could do the US a an inestimable service by confessing what he knows, if he truly wants to make his peace with God. I suspect a trap, too.
https://www.corbettreport.com/911-suspects-rudy-giuliani/
As for Assange he is a persecuted journalist. The creator of the greatest engine of democracy since the printing press.
Of course hegemonic rulers wish to silence him in a concrete cage. Of course.
How about report the news as it is without editorializing?
Giuliani, former mayor, says…
Giuliani, former prosecutor, says…
Or how about objectively – Giuliani says….
Learn journalism.
Who do you think you are speaking that way to Joe Lauria?
You smallness is showing.
The story is about what Giuliani said so maybe that’s why it refers to things he said. Learn reading comprehension.
So…why in the hell has it taken them two years to say this? And do they mean it? If they do there should be an ironclad guarantee given to him by the US & Britain.
I am not a fan of Rudy Giuliani or Donald Trump but these comments are right on! Wouldn’t it be amazing if Donald Trump were to thumb his nose at the deep state by actually doing the right thing in defense of freedom of the press?
It would be great! Very disruptive as well, but truly supportive of a really FREE press.
Ending illegal occupations and freeing innocent journalists is gonna get him killed. If he survives and keeps this up, I’ll be voting for a Republican President for the first time in my life.
Great scoop on Giuliani. Let us hope that DOJ can be stopped from prosecution.
But with everything secret but the kitchen sink, no one can be assured of safety.
The only proof would be a pardon, without which all assurances are a charade.
A pardon requires admitting guilt, but Assange didn’t do anything wrong as far as publishing hacked information.
LEAKED, not hacked.
Actually and more importantly, a pardon requires a conviction which they don’t have. I realize that in our kangaroo justice system all too often an indictment really means that the fix is in and you’re going to jail regardless of weather or not you committed the crime for which you were indicted BUT to be pardoned, you have to be convicted.
Ford pardoned Nixon without there having been a conviction, or even an indictment.
But Trump has available to him the better route of simply directing his DoJ to tear up any indictments of Assange that may exist and cease any further actions against him or Wikileaks.
Not too much to ask from the man who “loves Wikileaks”, but we’re none of us holding our breath, are we?
The pardon clause: “The president shall … have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.” (Article II section 2)
The Supreme Court interprets this to include conditional pardons, sentence commutation, remissions of fines and forfeitures, etc. Pardons can be presumptive: President Ford pardoned Nixon for possible Watergate crimes, without a confession or conviction.
Thanks Sam F. Good to know.
this is insane, he raped me…….i think
What nerve of him, he ordered the NYPD to remove cameras and attacked the media when he was mayor, this is hypocrisy, he also ordered to put the command center in WTC before it was attacked..
are al these people colluding to deceive us?
I always suspected there was a good side to Giuliani.
He may be a bit strange, but he probably has a conscience.
In any case, he’s absolutely right here.
strange is not the word, he was the attorney for J Hoover of the FBI, the whole thing is a scam, he is working with his own media, FOX NEWS..
SWEET HAPPY NEW YEAR JULIAN ASSANGE
yup….This is much better then Pamela Anderson visiting blue ball in a small smelly cat litter Embassy
Well, hallelujah, someone who isn’t afraid to speak the obvious truth.
extradite him to the U.S. for prosecution.
Let’s be honest here. That should read:
extradite him to the U.S. for persecution.
I repeat my assertion from a year ago – Trump may be Assange’s (our) greatest potential ally. I highly recommend we keep pushing this narrative.
Giuliani has made other significant contributions – “Truth ain’t the truth!”
“Trump may be Assange’s (our) greatest potential ally”
True.
But then again they may not.
If Russiagate swallows them both, and both get indicted on this fabricated claim, they may, faced with such an act of evil, in plea bargaining, go at eachother’s throats.
That I fear is the great evil behind Luke Harding/The Guardian’s attempt to tie Trump and Assange and the fabrication that is Russiagate together.
Sorry for the italics. Fumbled on the closinbg tag, I suppose.
[quote_bjd]”…and the fabrication that is Russiagate together”
What part do you believe is a fabrication? Perhaps it’s ignorance or you just dont understand how the revolutionary party in the first two decades of the twentieth century when Russian social democracy divided into Bolshevik (meaning “of the majority”) or maybe you missed the intercept article about national security listening stations in eight AT&T buildings utilizing antiquated “Communist Party” Pen Trap & Trace Registers in the form of the world first computerised wire-tap, which was also where the pentagon misplaced 10 Billion dollars before plunging into War. Or maybe you missed the fact that most of the people mentioned in the Panama Papers seem to support the view’s of the ‘Radical Left’
People that are now dead, like Stan Kubric and his movie eye’s wide shut. Or how about George Luca’s did you never give it much thought??? The empire vs the rebellion? The goal of the Proitariate Slovac Gangster Communist Computer God as published by Francis E. Dec in 1945? Parroting imbeciles that readily joining the radical leftist view of being a left wing repulic hidding there money in off-shore investments whilst speaking out about the evil’s of the galactic imperial empire only to discover that the imperial empire’s sole goal is catching and prosecuting Tax Cheats (insert Trump & Kids here) by siezure of all financial asset’s.
Radical success all around… Everybody know’s Julian Assange is “John Doe” the sole leaker of the Panama Paper’s and goes by the Hacker handle “Julius!” all hail Julius and the revolutionary party “Como La Cigarra”
Russiagate is pretty clearly the Democrats’ version of Birthergate. Neither cult can accept losing an election & so invents conspiracy fictions.
Scott Thompson, are you visiting Canada or Colorado?
You want to go easy on those high-strength varieties of weed bred by Dutch growers…
Bingo!
““The thing that really got Hillary is not so much that it was revealed, but they were true. They actually had people as bad as that and she really was cheating on the debates. She really was getting from Donna Brazile the questions before hand. She really did completely screw Bernie Sanders.”
What no one addresses is that Hillary knew that Wikileaks was going to be releasing her emails and so she and Podesta decided to blame it on Russia to keep people from focusing on their content. And it has worked hasn’t it?
The collateral murder video showed war crimes in Iraq and yet as far as I know no one was punished for them.
Yes! Why, oh why, are people so easily led from seeing the basic truth?
It’s called: “Blind hate/rage.”
Well they are obviously going to have take him down to the Potomac and tar and feather that heretic. Feinstein and Pelosi wont be having none of that. ( The fairer sex) Let alone my Republican Bros. Next thing you know they’ll be talking about giving Snowden an award for patriotism and defending the Constitution . Sorry. Ain’t happening. The US has wallowed in the mud too long on this to just hose out the pigsty. Democrats cant accept that Obama did this for the wrong reasons,. Restarting the Cod War and everything…… ,and Republicans are just plain anal retentive. Discretion is the better part of valor. Just Zip-it. .Shame on him. Happy New Year. We need one.
Here in New York we are concerned about the arbitrary detention of Julian Asange. We had rallies this summer and fall in Manhattan (see @Issar1). Democrats, The New York Times – are p******ats concerning this matter. Hopefully things will go better soon and Julian will be free. That Rudy Giuliani is favorable is a good sign. & . Dec 31, 2018.
Free Assange
#freeassange I agree!