Consortium News Target of a Malware Attack as Twitter Takes Down Assange Support Group’s Account

The simultaneous escalation of censorship of Julian Assange’s support base, alongside the latest wave of fact-free attacks on Assange and WikiLeaks‘, raises concern about a coordinated effort to smear Assange while silencing those who counter such dubious reporting.

By Elizabeth Vos
Special to Consortium News

Consortium News was under attack on Monday, days after the premiere episode of the outlet’s live-streamed show, CN Live! The malicious attempt to shut down the website, according to the site’s web host, followed on the heels of the suspension of pro-Assange account Unity4J from Twitter.

Consortium News wrote via Twitter on Monday regarding the cyberattack:

“Our website is completely down. Our media host said we have been attacked by malware. They actually tried to blame ‘the Russians’! Every article published since 2011 now gets a 404 Not Found. They are working on it. Problem started slowly on Friday first day of CN Live!”

https://twitter.com/Consortiumnews/status/1150870051072987139

The hack of Consortium News sparked concern regarding what appears to be an escalating wave of attacks on the independent press, as well as censorship of activists who support independent journalists, including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Consortium News was restored by 10:44 pm EDT on Monday, but issues related to publishing new material persist.

As news of the attack on Consortium News spread, some Assange supporters connected the event with Twitter’s suspension of the Unity4J movement’s Twitter account. Christine Assange, Julian Assange’s mother and an activist in her own right, Christine Assange tweeted:

Christine Assange also wrote on Sunday that she had lost “over 8,000 followers overnight.”

CNLive!‘s inaugural live-stream included an interview with Nils Melzer, the UN rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, who “discussed his work on the condition of imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.

Consortium News had previously conducted the Unity4J online vigils over a period of months. The Unity4J Twitter account was suspended last Thursday for no known reason. The ban sparked a backlash including independent media coverage from a number of outlets, as well as an impassioned statement from Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, who called Twitter “Big Brother” for permanently removing the account. To date, no explanation for Unity4J’s suspension has been made public.

Caitlin Johnstone wrote of the suspension via Medium:

“Speaking for myself as a vocal Assange supporter on Twitter, I can say that I’ve been following the @Unity4J account closely since its earliest days and I’ve never once seen it post anything other than highly professional-looking advocacy for Julian Assange. I’ve certainly never seen it post anything that could be construed as abusive, misleading, or otherwise in violation of any of Twitter’s posted rules.”

Unity4J was far from the only account targeted recently. Additional Unity4J activists, including many of those associated with running the Unity4J Twitter profile, were also either suspended or locked out of their accounts. One Unity4J admin, Aaron Kesel, who also writes as an independent journalist, said in an interview that they were locked out of their accounts within minutes of publishing an article covering the Catalonian public’s celebration of Assange’s birthday. Activist Post, the site on which the article was published, was likewise reportedly hacked in recent weeks.

On the same day that Consortium News fell under attack, CNN published a conspiracy-theory-laden article accusing Assange of having conspired with “the Russians” to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election from within the Ecuadorian embassy, which CNN described breathlessly as a “command post.” (Little irony that Consortium News was also told that their website being attacked had had something to do with “The Russians.”)

The CNN piece rapidly garnered criticism from journalists including Caitlin Johnstone, Kevin Gosztola, and Aaron Maté.  The documents at issue in CNN’s article were previously described in a totally different light by Spanish paper of record El Pais:

“The security employees at the embassy had a daily job to do: to monitor Assange’s every move, record his conversations, and take note of his moods. The company’s drive to uncover their target’s most intimate secrets led the team to carry out a handwriting examination behind his back, which resulted in a six-page report. Company employees also took a feces sample from a baby’s diaper to check whether Assange and one of his most faithful collaborators were the child’s parents. This intelligence work had nothing to do with protection duties.”

Gosztola wrote of CNN’s piece: “If one reads CNN’s report, it is clear, like the CIA, they do not view the work Assange was doing as journalistic bur rather the work of an ‘enemy’ of the United States.”

Black Agenda Report Editor and Senior Columnist Margaret Kimberly wrote via Twitter:

The simultaneous escalation of censorship when it comes to Assange’s support base, alongside the latest wave of fact-free attacks on Assange and WikiLeaks‘ reputation, raises concern regarding the potential of a coordinated effort to smear Assange while also silencing those who might counter such dubious reporting.

Elizabeth Vos is a freelance reporter and regular contributor to Consortium News. She co-hosts CN Live!

 

 

76 comments for “Consortium News Target of a Malware Attack as Twitter Takes Down Assange Support Group’s Account

  1. Griselda Hunt
    July 26, 2019 at 09:53

    What devastating news. I’m very sad for us, supporters of order, goodness, honesty and Julian

  2. Robert Mayer
    July 20, 2019 at 14:39

    Test Google fascist censorship

  3. peter
    July 19, 2019 at 08:18

    The original Russiagate report by chronic liar and spook James Clapper actually gave away the entire agenda. There is never a conspiracy only deliberate actions taken in plain site. That report briefly dealt withe “high levels” of confidence by security agencies with regard to Russian interference, while providing no evidence. Then the remainder (the bulk of the report) reveals the scam. Clapper then goes on about alternate sources of media decimating dangerous messages, with a considerable amount of time complaining about RT but it is clear CN, Counterpunch etc are also in its cross hairs. The concluding paragraph exposing entirely the agenda and it has nothing to do with Russia. But first background; in 1981 the newly elected Regan had the senior people from various departments at a meeting and he asked Casey, the then director of the CIA what he believed was the role of the CIA to which Casey replied, “We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false”. Clapper at the end of his report where he is ranting about alternate media says – I paraphrase – the American people are losing faith in their institutions.

    He has admitted the CIA has lost control of the narrative through its outlets (ie: CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC & Fox along with the Times, the Post etc… MSM). Russiagate is CIA disinformation that is created to justify it reasserting it dominance of the message.

    To root for Mueller and the investigation (no matter how odious Trump is) is to miss the nature of the struggle and truth has nothing to do with it. We are watching the CIA trying to reinvigorate Casey’s stated agenda. Assange was certainly a threat to the Ministry of Truth.

    Trump the moronic beast and the mass media – mouthpiece of the deep state, are in a battle here. No good guys – no honest intentions anywhere. The only positive thing to do is to expose the fraud on all sides and to ensure Americans lose 100% faith in it (media) institutions.

  4. July 18, 2019 at 19:21

    I recommend that you switch your computers to Linux as soon as possible! Linux is less hackable, although not impossible, as most malware is written for Windows. Try to find a Linux expert who will donate their exertise to help you choose a version, set it up, etc. Most windows programs themselves won’t run on Linux, but there are equivalents if not linux versions. Linux and programs to run on it are mainly free, thanks to the copyright by its creator, Linus Torvald.

    • Josep
      July 21, 2019 at 03:30

      Technically you can run Windows programs on Linux using Wine, albeit with limitations (some programs run half-heartedly, and others may not run at all).

  5. Robert Mayer
    July 18, 2019 at 18:09

    Tnx CN… Google fascism test… ?

  6. DW Bartoo
    July 18, 2019 at 11:09

    Are comments still disappearing when “post comment” is activated?

    Do such comments ever appear later?

    • Skip Scott
      July 19, 2019 at 08:40

      As of this morning (EDT) the comments are still disappearing, and reloading the page doesn’t get you to an edit function as it used to. The do seem to show up later.

  7. Deborah
    July 18, 2019 at 02:45

    yes, I noticed, on Monday night when I tried to access an older article after my search I kept getting a 504 error. I did wonder that it might be something like this. They are even scrubbing Wayback machine from what I have read.

    • Maxine Chiu
      July 18, 2019 at 16:56

      I have another Consortium problem….Too often their emails appear in my “trash” file….Can anyone explain?

      • Skip Scott
        July 19, 2019 at 08:43

        Try dragging and dropping CN emails into your “inbox”. That should teach your mail program that they aren’t junk.

  8. Michael Keenan
    July 18, 2019 at 01:00
    • Skip Scott
      July 18, 2019 at 07:36

      Good Links! Thanks.

      • Snoopydawg
        July 20, 2019 at 02:07

        Stop by caucus99percent and see how we have been covering Assange, Russia Gate and numerous other stories. We saw through Russia Gate the minute it was launched. Veganmark posted his whole body of work on c99 and can easily be found by reading the link above and then click on his name to get to his essay list.

        This is an open invitation for everyone. We are a small group of writers and welcome new members.

        https://caucus99percent.com/diaries

    • DW Bartoo
      July 18, 2019 at 11:03

      Thank you for these links, Michael Keenan.

      The work of Mark McCarty, who has provided us many critical and invaluable insights, appears to be under major attack.

      Clearly, there is a coordinated effort to silence and disappear the words of those capable, skillfully and properly, with actual evidence and informed analysis, of debunking the narratives which please and protect the kakistocratic elite, both those well known and those deeply hidden in the darkest shadows behind the opaque curtains of “national security”.

      DW

  9. Kat Swift
    July 17, 2019 at 23:06

    It’s not just Unity4J that’s under cyber attack. Another website dedicated to the defense of Julian Assange, Defend Wikileaks, is also apparently under attack. A couple of times when I’ve attempted to access this site, I’ve been kicked over to another site called julianpaulassange.com that doesn’t look at all legit. Also, I have not been able to access the “Take Action” tab since I first visited Defend Wikileaks. Too bad because it was chock full of good suggestions for how to defend Julian Assange. Looks like full spectrum military dominance has gone into official effect!

  10. Bradley Anbro
    July 17, 2019 at 18:46

    Julian Assange quotes:

    Facebook has all of your friends wearing a wire…

    Twitter is a police interview that never ends…

    Youtube has you in the dock, talking to the judge…

  11. July 17, 2019 at 18:01

    The above article might explain why I could post any comments to Consortium News a few days ago. I was able to watch the first video show by CN, which included the discussion had with Nils Melzer, but couldn’t comment about it, although I saw other comments. I then tried on my Epic browser and got the same result. I then experimented and tried commenting on another CN article and was still unable to (and was met with a ‘something went wrong’ message). I then do what I usually do in situations where it looks like I’ve been disappeared; I blogged about it. I didn’t ‘assert’ anything, but I did speculate that CN may have banned me. This is my first visit back since then. Therefore this is a test.

    It just shouldn’t be surprising that the fascist (not fascist-like) gangster Corporatocracy, which includes all of its Silicon Valley components, would react negatively to those objecting to its criminality. Unfortunately, We the people can do nothing about that. We are outgunned. It will take a higher, perfect, power to fix this problem. (That is NOT us.) The problem is the wild beast of Corporatocracy, presently led by the False Prophet known as the United States. The solution is to slay it. Our task, as individuals, is to be on the right side of the Issue of Universal Sovereignty so that we won’t disappear (or disappear completely) with that beast when its slain.

  12. Pablo Diablo
    July 17, 2019 at 15:46

    Never give up!

  13. mike k
    July 17, 2019 at 15:32

    The dark night of 1984 creeps in day by day, with the public blissfully unaware. Most prefer their sleep to the harsh realities of a would be democracy in terminal decline.

    • Anonymous
      July 18, 2019 at 00:00

      It has been here for a long time. It is spreading. It is intensifying – but it is not coming.

    • Abby
      July 20, 2019 at 02:10

      Yep. And instead of the state putting spyware in people’s homes, they are willingly buying it themselves. Alexa, Google and the other smart technology stuff people use to run their homes. Silly..

  14. July 17, 2019 at 13:59

    The attempt to shut down independent journalism in order to cut off support for courageous journalist Julian Assange is a disgrace and illustrates the myth of an American “free press.” It also violates the standards of world public interest journalism which values at the highest level whistle blowers like Mr. Assange. We should be able to go to the United Nations for help, but the UN Charter allows countries full “sovereignty” which allows a corrupt nation to control the information given to the public. We must change the UN Charter to give the UN the tools it needs to protect a free press.

  15. Linda Lewis
    July 17, 2019 at 13:59

    Thank you, Elizabeth. That is a disturbing confluence of events.

    It has come to my attention that Twitter attacks were made on whistleblower Jesselyn Radack (an Assange supporter) ostensibly from people associated with Unity4J. Jesselyn notes in the thread that she reported the attacks to Twitter. https://twitter.com/JesselynRadack/status/1096764206915956736

    Investigation is needed to determine if the attacks came from Assange followers or from hacked or false ID accounts. If from Assange followers, apologies to Jesselyn would be in order.

  16. Andrew Thomas
    July 17, 2019 at 13:40

    When I tuned into the podcast last Friday and couldn’t find it (I needed the help of far more technically astute readers in the comments to finally get connected) my first thought was that you were being screwed with somehow. 20 years ago, this would have been a symptom of paranoia. Last Friday, I guess I was right. Thank you to CN for your great work in an atmosphere that becomes more totalitarian in character daily.

  17. ricardo2000
    July 17, 2019 at 13:27

    The first demand of any dictator is always, ‘SILENCE’.

    CN must be doing everything correctly if they are hated and feared this much.

    Keep fighting and keep it loud.

  18. ricardo2000
    July 17, 2019 at 13:25

    The first demand on any dictator is always ‘SILENCE’.

    Keep fighting, and keep it loud.

  19. Rosanna
    July 17, 2019 at 13:08

    Suggest everyone move over to Gab and Minds, or other alt-media, and escape the censorship. In a very short time we’ll all just ignore the Twitter storms and Facebook smears, and we’ll be the better and more productive for it.

  20. Antiwar7
    July 17, 2019 at 13:03

    Ha! When truth is not on their side, they have to resort to dirty tricks.

    And Consortium News, congratulations. This proves you matter.

  21. polistra
    July 17, 2019 at 13:01

    Why was the ‘media host’ hackable? The whole point of a paid ISP is to have more storage, better security, and more service than an individual computer. That’s what you’re paying for.

    If they don’t have those things, they should be called out publicly as a false advertiser. If they do have those things, then they’re playing a trick on CN.

  22. Eddie
    July 17, 2019 at 12:31

    The bad news is that the US has become an authoritarian government that sends out trolls in the corporate media and elsewhere to shutdown the voices that fight tyranny. The good news is that Consortium News is getting its message out to a wide enough audience that it has begun to scare the dominant class and their lickspittles in the White House, Congress, courts and corporate media.

    Good work! Keep ’em coming!

  23. Fred Taylor
    July 17, 2019 at 12:16

    This is scary stuff. Thank you for your faithful and objective reporting. I recommend a new book “How Democracies Die” by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (Broadway books).

    • Rosanna
      July 17, 2019 at 13:11

      Yes, read this – and realize that the “gatekeepers of democracy”, described by the authors, have failed us by promoting a horrible and corrupt authoritarian class – that has led directly to a populist uprising against said “gatekeepers” in many countries.

  24. Mary Gourdoux
    July 17, 2019 at 12:08

    Thanks for this. This assault on independent media is very scary.

  25. Joseph Pena
    July 17, 2019 at 11:57

    My guess is the U.S. Government is freaking out because of the judge ???? that said there was no clear evidence that there was Russian state influence with the Internet Russian Agency. They want to makes sure opposition news to their narrative is shut down. Pretty heavy handed and clumsy if you ask me.

  26. Eric32
    July 17, 2019 at 11:36

    >Twitter Takes Down Assange Support Group’s Account<

    Actions like this by Twitter, youtube, etc should result in class action suits and new venues that don't want to stop people from challenging the sort of garbage put out by the NY Times, WaPo, CNN and other government/deep state propaganda outlets.

  27. July 17, 2019 at 09:49

    Great Article
    Kulbhushan Jadhav Verdict by International Court Of Justice(ICJ). ICJ decided to announce the verdict about Kulbhushan Jadhav on 17 July 2019 that faces a claimed of spying in Pakistan by Pak Army. Pakistan Army said Jadhav came in to being for doing terror activity in Pakistan. Pak Army continuously stated that Kulbhushan Jadhav works for Indian Intelligence Agency( RAW) and he involved in many terrorist attacks that were happening in Balochistan but India restricted the Pakistan Claim continuously. DGISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor said RAW gives support for doing his job because Jadhav is a RAW agent

    Kulbhushan Jadhav Verdict by International Court Of Justice(ICJ)

  28. AnneR
    July 17, 2019 at 09:21

    That Twitter, FB, Google, Microsoft etc., block, remove or otherwise prevent us from accessing information that is unacceptable to the powers that be should not surprise even as it appalls. These entities are hand in glove with the “Deep State” – indeed the electronic capabilities we all take for granted now have their origins in such “open,” “free expression” entities as DARPA. And that relationship has hardly expired.

    Not that this is any consolation – indeed, it should only make us more aware that those in power, the corporate-capitalist-imperialist warmongering ruling elites and their dog packs, the Deep State, want us to only have access to that “information” they deem “worthy” of belief, acceptance. No real dissent, no really well based opposing purviews, perceptions should be, will be allowed. Once the internet (WWW) revealed the ability of the hoi polloi, the bewildered herd across a country, the globe (globalism is only supposed to benefit those ruling elites – not us) to share information hidden from us by our “betters,” share our views, oppositions, dissent, then the major vehicles for our intercommunications must be on the alert and remove anything that truly counters the “informed, established opinions” as disseminated by the MSM for our greater (un/dis) enlightenment.

    On the BBC World Service this morning there was repeated news about the Brit-Iranian journalist Nazanin Ratcliffe who was convicted and imprisoned in Iran as a spy for the UK (and another brief interview with her spouse). As had been reported a week or so ago, Ms Ratcliffe had been on hunger strike. Now apparently she is in a psychological unit of a hospital. And her father was not allowed to visit her (he had been doing so while she was in prison). The tone of the piece (and that of the earlier one on her hunger strike) was: what can you expect from the Iranians? From this dictatorial, Islamic state? Terrible, horrible the way they treat “journalists”! Shock horror.

    The news reports on Julian Assange? The shock horror at his being held for 50 weeks for skipping bail – and in the UK’s equivalent of an American Supermax? The shock horror at his mental, physical condition? Any mention of Nils Melzer’s report (especially given how quick the BBC is to mention, in great and shocked detail, similar reports by UN, NGO rapporteurs with regard to current “bad” countries)? Any mention of the criminal removal of Mr Assange’s belongings by the UK police? Of the fact that the rape charges were (deliberately) trumped up by the Swedish police and prosecutors to enable Assange’s extradition to the US? Any of this?

    A resounding silence on any and all of it. (Ditto NPR, by the way.)

    • Sam F
      July 17, 2019 at 21:50

      Yes, very true, and very appalling.

    • DW Bartoo
      July 18, 2019 at 11:06

      Superb and disturbingly accurate comment, AnneR.

      DW

  29. July 17, 2019 at 09:07

    Coincidence. When I hit post my comment disappeared. This is the third consecutive post that disappeared when I hit post comment..

    • Linda Lewis
      July 17, 2019 at 14:03

      Apparently posts are held for review before publishing to eliminate spam.

  30. July 17, 2019 at 09:03

    This whole internet thing has everyone spooked. There is a sense that everyone is being watched, signals constantly given as to what is acceptable to say and what is not. Big Brother seems to have a lot of cousins, nephews and other relatives who want to please him.

    I watched Trump for several minutes yesterday during his cabinet meeting citing his love it or leave it tirade. Pointedly he included those who said “terrible things about Israel.”! The message could not be clearer about what you can say and not say about Israel. I don’t think that message is lost on organizations like Facebook and Twitter.

    I recall a hearing where Facebook was being grilled about what they were allowing on their site. The message, what you do has consequences. Pocket book consequences.

  31. michael
    July 17, 2019 at 08:47

    Rarely see Tulsi Gabbard name in MSM without the obligatory smear that she is homophobic (she worked when young with a very homophobic father politician, and has since “evolved”, apologized profusely, and even supported gay marriage when Hillary, Obama and Biden were adamantly against it (their Defense of Marriage Act), which of course is not mentioned by the MSM).
    The fact is that anyone who is against Forever Wars is against Israel and Saudi Arabia and therefore “Un-American”.

    • Josep
      July 17, 2019 at 17:33

      and even supported gay marriage when Hillary, Obama and Biden were adamantly against it

      Can’t remember hearing anything about Hillary and Biden re: same-sex marriage, but I remember reading how Obama was campaigning to legalize it during his presidency.

  32. July 17, 2019 at 08:42

    Pisses me off that Twitter takes down a web site which is supporting a true hero and yet they allow the asshole Donald Trump to spread his racist bullshit! I hope they go bankrupt!

    • torture this
      July 17, 2019 at 11:30

      If they go bankrupt it will be to screw creditors they have the money to pay. For this to end, the people in power need to disappear.

  33. Skip Scott
    July 17, 2019 at 07:57

    It may be time to find a new media host. Tom Feeley at Information Clearing House had similar difficulties and moved his operation to Iceland. You may want to check with him.

    Big Brother is flexing his muscle. Dissident voices on the internet are a real threat to his power. It is a sure sign that they are getting desperate, and are fearful of us. Take heart, we may win this yet.

    • Realist
      July 17, 2019 at 17:35

      How are you getting posted today? Everything I submit just vanishes, no mention of moderation, no screen editing. No massaging the results by posting “test” screens. Been happening since last night up till now (Wed. 5:35 PM).

      • Skip Scott
        July 18, 2019 at 01:40

        Hi Realist-

        I wasn’t sure I was getting posted. I have been having the same problems everyone else is describing. However, in checking back later, I have found that the comments did post. This is a very nasty attack. I think recent articles have really touched a nerve with TPTB, and they may be very concerned about the potential of growing viewership for “CN Live” as well.

        • DW Bartoo
          July 18, 2019 at 11:35

          That comments eventually appear is very reassuring, Skip Scott.

          I do wish that CN might address this ongoing concern, clearly shared by many, with a comment, making clear that comments will, at some point, appear.

          We are all very supportive of CN in this time of unprecedented malware attacks, content sequestration, and outright banishment.

          Unfortunately, the many have not the slightest inkling that anything extraordinarily destructive of civil society, in service to authoritarian interests, hardly limited to Trump and his minions, is taking place.

          I consider that times will become very interesting, indeed, if this repressive behavior continues.

          The Empire is loosing its grip on the power to manipulate consciousness and on whatever tiny vestige of reason may yet remain among the kakistocratic one percent and their avid enforcers.

          DW

          • Skip Scott
            July 19, 2019 at 08:51

            DW-

            Yes, CN is a critical website in fighting MSM propaganda. We need to support them as much as possible. The fact that their media host tried to blame the Russians tells me they are not to be trusted. It is obviously our own so-called “intelligence” agencies, or their toadies, who are offended by CN’s unmasking of the Deep State propaganda narrative.

            I hope that Joe Lauria checks out alternative media hosts.

  34. anonrd
    July 17, 2019 at 06:39

    Cookies are no longer being stored on readers’ machines to identify commenters, so erasing them no longer helps.
    Comments just disappear without even a note about “moderation.” All prior comments were made in a 60-minite period just after midnight this morning. Here is my last comment that disappeared:

    Most of the website hosting services (BlueHost, DreamHost, and many with very different names) are now owned by one conglomerate that deliberately degrades those websites that oppose zionist fascism. If sued for this, they send Jewish lawyers. So it seems likely even before investigation that they are a zionist attack on freedom of expression, using money power as always. There appears to be a very similar process at work at Amazon, and likely Twitter and others. Not surprisingly all of their CEOs are zionists. Your dollars are at work defending their greed and destroying democracy. Investigation needed.

  35. July 17, 2019 at 06:01

    The sweet meat is close to the bone and it appears as if this whole thing is a dramatic, profound exercise in panic and we all know that panic only catches the attention of those of us who have battling this corrupt planet for years and winning.

  36. July 17, 2019 at 05:22

    “Poor old Marat, in you we trust
    You work till your eyes turn as red as rust.
    Just yesterday your printing press was smashed
    Now they’re asking your home
    Address.
    Poor old Marat,
    In you
    we
    trust”

    • July 17, 2019 at 21:45

      So appro; quoted like a true Primate.

  37. defiance demon
    July 17, 2019 at 04:26

    Every resource available to the pentagon/deep state/surveillance state is now being put in motion with two major goals: 1) To insure that Assange is found guilty of whatever phony charges they can make stick. 2) To harass and, if possible, shut down ANY online entity they deem a serious enough threat to derail their first goal. At the very least they will do everything possible to thoroughly discredit pro-Assange websites if they’re unable to accomplish a total shutdown

    I was 15 years old, a high school sophomore, in 1971 when I first read “1984”. Like many readers, I’m sure, the book was a clear allegory of the USSR. Never once, then or many decades later, did it ever enter my mind that any western government could sink to the level of the sinister depths of Big Brother’s stranglehold on society. Well….. here we are….. clearly on our way to Newspeak… “double plus good”….. the Ministry of Love. I feel a growing existential unease and sad sympathy for my younger self. But…. I *was* only 15; perhaps one is allowed some naivete at that age.

  38. Lily
    July 17, 2019 at 03:56

    The links to the “Revelations of Wikileaks’ No 1, 2, and 3 from CN archives could not be accessed for three days (error 404 not found). They are now working again.

    Perhaps the Deep State is getting nervous because the public opinion on Julien Assange is slowly turning to the better – thanks to the relentless support of CN.com and even more after the first CN LIVE event. It is not easy to smear Nils Melzer.

    #freeManning!
    #freeAssange!

    • Adri
      July 17, 2019 at 12:25

      Free the messengers and lock up the criminals. FreeAssange!!! #FreeManning!!!

  39. Esteleen
    July 17, 2019 at 01:20

    Once we get through this we will find out what they have been keeping from us. We must be close. Unity4J

  40. geeyp
    July 17, 2019 at 01:04

    Gee, raises concern? That statement shows more patience with these criminals than I have at this point. It is as plain as lack of WMD was from the get-go. Julian Assange was silenced in his asylum so he could not respond to media lies and criticism. And now, it happens to you and us.

  41. geeyp
    July 17, 2019 at 00:59

    Gee, raises concern? That statement shows more patience with these criminals than I have at this point. It is as plain as lack of WMD was from the get-go. Julian Assange was silenced in his asylum location so he could not respond to media lies and criticism. And now, it happens to you and us.

    • Andrew Mcguiness
      July 17, 2019 at 05:03

      Exatly, we are being silenced and denied the right to share information. Prsoecution of journalists, accounts being pulled on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, shadowbannind, hacking of independent news sites, and disinformation from corporate-owned news. The REALLY SCARY thing is, all the people I know just don’t see the problem.

      • July 18, 2019 at 13:46

        Yes, Andrew – that is precisely what scares me the most, that the vast majority of the people of all ideologies and beliefs simply don’t “see” the issue. They continue merrily along in their safe little lives unaware, and often not wanting to be aware, of reality.

        Gawd save the Empire…………..

  42. Nick
    July 17, 2019 at 00:49

    I commented recently on a Ray McGovern article where the comments section was overloaded with American Trollfarm comments that I thought this was going to happen (again). Unfortunately I was correct. These people are total gangsters, and they suffer from psychological projection, where they blame others for what they are actually guilty of. It’s not surprising that ‘the Russians’ are behind this, considering that ‘the Russians’, in the parlance of are times, means the National Security State.

  43. Realist
    July 17, 2019 at 00:37

    Who has the most clear-cut motive and means to essentially carry out the digital era equivalent of a fire bombing of CN’s “print shop?” If anyone believes it was the Russians there is no hope for this country or the world. The intel agencies are being slowly but surely exposed as the street-level soldiers, if not the ultimate masterminds, in this whole Russiagate nonsense. The next question is would they deliberately precipitate a world war to deflect the justified attention they have been attracting to themselves?

    First attempt to post failed. Will try again. You never quit, do you Mr. Brennan?

    • Realist
      July 17, 2019 at 00:40

      System is still messed up. I’ve tried to delete this response to the initial failure of the original comment to post, but that seems impossible. The Deep State hackers are still at it.

      • Realist
        July 17, 2019 at 17:31

        Wednesday evening by now and the system is still messed up. I tried to reply to SamF below and my post simply disappears. No indication of moderation or anything. No opportunity to edit it by pressing refresh. Just, poof, return to top of page, same as was happening last night. The hackers are persistent. (Now let’s see if this appears or vanishes into the ether.)

    • nietzsche1510
      July 17, 2019 at 01:14

      Brennan too is an executioner of “divine high orders” of the Judeo-Zionists. you can “smell” it in all sorts of anti-Assange manifestations all over the West. we know now, since a while ago, that the Left should serve first & foremost the agenda of the Tribe.

  44. Realist
    July 17, 2019 at 00:36

    Who has the most clear-cut motive and means to essentially carry out the digital era equivalent of a fire bombing of CN’s “print shop?” If anyone believes it was the Russians there is no hope for this country or the world. The intel agencies are being slowly but surely exposed as the street-level soldiers, if not the ultimate masterminds, in this whole Russiagate nonsense. The next question is would they deliberately precipitate a world war to deflect the justified attention they have been attracting to themselves?

    • Sam F
      July 17, 2019 at 06:23

      It is fairly clear now that US secret agencies and money powers made up the entire anti-Russia nonsense to demand money, just as they made up the concept of “terrorism” threats while the principal sponsors of Islamic fundamentalist militarism since WWII, and made up the concept of communism threats to cover the takeover of democracy by money power. Of course they had allies in the DNC to cover up Israelgate as Russiagate, allies in the zionists to cover up their facism as anti-communism, and allies in WallSt to cover up the destruction of democracy as defense of democracy.

      Letting secret agencies and internet megacorps get out of control was the final stage of US corruption, after letting money power control elections, mass media, and the judiciary.

      • Realist
        July 17, 2019 at 17:24

        Spot on with respect to both Russia and “Islamic” terrorism.

        As one pundit recently said (might have been Caitlin Johnstone), for the amount of grief this country’s military has dished out against nearly the entire Middle East, those people have barely raised a finger against the American “homeland.” There has been much more “terrorism” (mass shootings) perpetrated by Americans against Americans.

        • Sam F
          July 18, 2019 at 20:19

          Very true, Realist. In fact the US was so blessed with excellent natural defenses that Jefferson believed that we would never need more than coastal patrol boats and privateers with Letters of Reprisal against pirates, and the militia. While technology has changed, small remote nations have never been even a minor threat until we committed genocides throughout the Mideast for the zionists, and even now require no US foreign military action.

  45. Tom Kath
    July 17, 2019 at 00:21

    In line with my news perspective of 1/Why this? 2/Why now? and 3/ why in this way? , I would be interested in the connection between this story and today’s “bombshell” that Dorsey contributed a few bucks to Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign.

    • michael
      July 17, 2019 at 08:47

      Rarely see Tulsi Gabbard name in MSM without the obligatory smear that she is homophobic (she worked when young with a very homophobic father politician, and has since “evolved”, apologized profusely, and even supported gay marriage when Hillary, Obama and Biden were adamantly against it (their Defense of Marriage Act), which of course is not mentioned by the MSM).
      The fact is that anyone who is against Forever Wars is against Israel and Saudi Arabia and therefore “Un-American”.

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