WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief: Assange US Extradition Case A Matter of Life and Death
"We spoke to Kristin Hraffnson, Editor-in-Chief of Wikileaks about the latest reports regarding Julian Assange, including his controlled movements around Belmarsh, his lack of access to lawyers and his health condition..."
Assange Was Spied On 24 Hours A Day
https://twitter.com/SMaurizi/status/1178238972138573826
"Wonder why US-UK media are silent on these explosive revelations...?
'Outrageous: This Should Be A Massive Scandal'
https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1178011264716595201
"Not a joke. The CIA allegedly ran an operation to livestream surveillance of women in the toilet, hoping to overhear them planning the legal defense for an asylum seeker. This is skulls-on-hats villainy, simply indefensible for people claiming to be 'the good guys'." Edward Snowden
Assange's Father & Die Linke Deputy Leader Hold Joint Press Conference
"22 hours per day imprisoned in a small cell places extreme discomfort upon Julian..."
Assange's Father Gives Speech at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate
Free Julian Assange, Chelsey Manning, thought, speech and media!
Julien's prison term for skipping bail has ended, and he will now remain in indefinite detention while the US makes their case for extradition.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/10/03/dangerous-detention-julian-assan...
"On September 22, Assange would have been released from HMP Belmarsh, a maximum security centre whose reputation betrays much in the way the authorities wish to handle the publisher. The 50-week jail term imposed for skipping bail was a mild matter relative to others serving life sentences in the prison, but a statement had to be made both to those wishing to emulate Assange and Britain’s cousins across the Atlantic. But that term of imprisonment was never meant to be genuinely observed in the scheme of things; its termination merely being a point in a broader scheme of ongoing detention. It was a mere hiccup in a conversation which involves US power. The Washington security establishment is salivating for its quarry, and Britain is playing minder.
This means keeping him in indefinite detention, or at least till US authorities make their case, however unconvincing. At the Westminster Magistrates court hearing on September 13, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser was short and sharp. “You have been produced today because your sentence of imprisonment is about to come to an end. When that happens your remand status changes from serving prisoner to a person facing extradition.”
...
"The UN Special Rapporteur, Nils Melzer, has also issued stirring assessments of Assange’s detention, with its compounding cruelties. “In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political prosecution, I have never seen a group of democratic states gang up to deliberately isolate, demonise and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law. The collective punishment of Julian Assange must end here and now.”
CIA Got Footage of Assange Friend Pamela Anderson in Loo - Galloway
"A stunning new report reveals how WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was spied on by a Spanish security firm during his time in the Ecuadoran embassy and all of his activities were documented and handed over to US intelligence."
WikiLeaks Source Jeremy Hammond Held in Contempt By Grand Jury
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/11/hamm-o11.html
"Information activist and WikiLeaks source Jeremy Hammond, who has been in prison since 2013 for hacking, was held in contempt of court on Thursday for refusing to answer seven questions put to him by a secret grand jury in the US District Court of Virginia. This is the same gand jury and the same Judge Anthony J Trenga that imprisoned Chelsea Manning last March for her refusal to provide false testimony against WikiLeaks' founder and publisher Julian Assange.
While the political establishment in Washington DC and the corporate media has been trumpeting the anonymous CIA 'whistleblower' involved in the efforts by the intelligence establishment and the Democratic Party to impeach Donald Trump, not one of them has mentioned or will mention the true fighters for truth and the exposure of corporate America and US imperialism..."
UN Official's Briefing on Torture of Assange Boycotted By US Media
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/18/melz-o18.html
"In a press briefing at the UN headquarters in New York on October 15, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer restated his assessment that WikiLeaks' publisher Julian Assange has been subjected to an unprecedented campaign of persecution that amounts to 'torture.' Melzer,'s warnings carry the weight and authority of a UN official and an internationally-respected legal expert. They concern Assange, the world's most famous persecuted journalist..."
Only Cowards and Sadists* Support the Persecution of Assange
https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1186646476912549888
"Former British ambassador Craig Murray has published a very disturbing account of Julian Assange's court appearance yesterday...
'I was deeply shaken while witnessing yesterday's events in Westminster Magistrate's Court...Everybody in that court yesterday saw that one of the greatest journalists and most important dissidents of our times is being tortured to death by the state, before our eyes.
The campaign of demonisation and dehumanisation against Julian, based on government and media lie after government and media lie, has led to a situation where he can be slowly killed in public sight and arraigned on a charge of publishing the truth about government wrongdoing, while receiving no assistance from 'liberal' society.
Unless Julian is released shortly, he will be destroyed. If the state can do this, then who is next...?"
*And some babblers.
Pilger: Did This Happen in the Home of the Magna Carta?
"...When he spoke truth and when his barrister spoke, Baraister contrived boredom; when the prosecuting barrister spoke, she was attentive. She had nothing to do; it was demonstrably preordained. In the table in front of us were a handful of American officials, whose direction to the prosecutor were carried by his junior; back and forth the young woman went, delivering instructions..."
Belmarsh Prison - Give Julian Assange His Mail!
'Sign the Petition!'
CN Live! - Ep 15: UK & Australia - Ruin or Rescue (and vid)
https://twitter.com/consortiumnews/status/1188082914082181120
"On Assange, Wikipedia and being civilised. Joe Lauria and Elizabeth Vos with John Pilger, Dr Nozomi Hayase, Lissa Johnson, Patrick Henningsen..."
Pink Floyd Co-Founder Roger Waters: The US & UK Are Trying to KILL Julian Assange! (and vid)
https://www.rt.com/shows/going-underground/471860-roger-waters-julian-as...
"Roger Waters discusses Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's latest extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court and why it makes him ashamed to be English..."
UK Abuse of Assange Continues: Blocking Spanish Intervention, Caving to US Demands
"By now it has been well-documented how the UK prosecution service, courts and prisons have squandered untold public resources on one individual who skipped a police bail order seven years ago. Search a little deeper and we see countless precedents have been set in the wake of a hunting expedition that is now slowly killing a journalist who exposed the crimes of powerful states.
The abuse of power continues, with the recent attempt to block a Spanish judge from interviewing Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, which clearly demonstrates that the United Kingdom Central Authority (UKCA) is continuing the state's assault on Assange as he fights extradition to the United States for exposing its war crimes..."
"UN issues incredibly powerful condemnation of UK government: 'this case has never been about Mr Assange's guilt or innocence, but about making him pay the price for exposing serious governmental misconduct, including alleged war crimes and corruption."
"Bernie supporter? Green? Liberal? Anarchist? Libertarian? Support for Julian Assange's right to expose the lies of our leaders eroded among all these groups over the years because 'an establishment propaganda narrative got through to them.'
https://twitter.com/Jonathan_K_Cook/status/1192023626842824704
Not uncommon here...
Arbuthnot Out As Assange's Judge, Says WikiLeaks Lawyer Jen Robinson
https://consortiumnews.com/2019/11/16/arbuthnot-out-as-assanges-judge-sa...
"Wikileaks lawyer Jen Robinson said Lady Emma Arbuthnot, the judge presiding over Julian Assange's extradition process who is embroiled in a conflict of interest, will no longer be sitting on the case."
Optics-tweeking a crucifixion.
Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation
https://twitter.com/YanisVaroufakis/status/1196792647584751619
"I don't suppose an apology is pending from those who, for years, referred to Julian Assange as a 'rapist' and denied that the whole affair was about shoving him in a supermax US black hole for the crime of having exposed crimes against humanity committed in oiur name."
The Swedish Case Against Assange Was Always Political
https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1197101381636808704
"UN Special Rapporteur on Torture: 'In 20 years I have never seen a group of democratic states ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonise and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law."
https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1134385305673445376
Notice now that the smearing and demonisation has resulted in the successful imprisonment and torture of this deep state enemy for courageously publishing forbidden truths on their monstrous crimes, the 'liberal-progressives' who participated so whole-heartedly in the campaign have now fallen silent. This support for reactionary msm-driven establishment causes is unfortunately not uncommon on this site. It must become an urgent developmental task for Canadian progressives to stop falling for each and every state propaganda operation on behalf of elite agendas.
John Pilger: The Lies About Julian Assange Must Stop Now
https://consortiumnews.com/2019/11/24/john-pilger-the-lies-about-assange...
"If Julian Assange were to succumb to the cruelties heaped upon him, week after week, month after month, year upon year, as doctors warn, newspapers like The Guardian will share the responsiblity..."
A publication whose imperialist dog whistles are unfortunately frequently taken as gospel truths.
The Significance of the Doctors' Open Letter in Defence of Julian Assange
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/26/pers-n26.html
"The WSWS applauds the medical doctors who have issued an open letter calling for urgent action to protect the life of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange. More than 65 doctors from the UK, US, Australia, Germany, Italy and Sri Lanka[*not Canada] have brought to the attention of a global audience, the terrible dangers to Assange's life.
'Mr Assange could die. The medical situation is thereby urgent. There is no time to lose...'
*Know a progressive doctor who might be interested? Pass this on.
[Perhaps, unlike some babblers, not everyone believes he's just a vile rapist who works for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin and deserves to die a miserable death in prison for crimes committed against crooked Hillary's re-election?]
Journalists Apparently Monitored..
https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1200743035501342720
"According to former employees of the Spanish [surveillance/security firm for Ecuador's London embassy] company, their boss, David Morales, is said to have boasted to them after returning from the US: 'From now on we play in the first league...We are now working for the dark side."
Visiting Britain's Political Prisoner
https://consortiumnews.com/2019/11/29/john-pilger-visiting-britains-poli...
"...When we greet each other, I can feel his ribs. His arm has no muscle. He has lost perhaps 10 to 15 kilos since April. When I first saw him here in May, what was most shocking was how much older he looked. 'I think I'm going out of my mind,' he said then. I said to him, 'No you're not. Look how you frighten them, how powerful you are..."
Free the Truth - A Short Speech by Former UK Ambassador Craig Murray (and vid)
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2019/11/free-the-truth-a-short-s...
"...We need Julian Assange. It is not only that he is the victim of torture, it is not only that his life is at stake and we ought to save him from a dreadful injustice. We also ought to save him because the world needs Julian Assange as a symbol of fighting for liberty and justice. We are moving into dangerous, dangerous times. We must see that what is happening to Julian Assange is what is happening in the wider society. We live in what has become a rogue state..."
Spanish Judge to Question Assange Over Illegal CIA Spying on Ecuadorian Embassy
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/02/ases-d02.html
"Britain's apparent back-down demonstrates that its initial bid to hinder the Spanish investigation was the result of a political decision, inseparable from the attempt by the British authorities and judiciary to railroad Assange to a US kangaroo court and prison. The sensitivity to the Spanish investigation is because it exposes the illegality of the entire US-led operation against Assange..."
Interview: Dr Lissa Johnson on Perilous Health of Julian Assange
https://twitter.com/21WIRE/status/1202611745833070592
"Extremely important in-depth interview with Lissa K Johnson - covering present health risk to journalist Julian Assange. Please share this information far and wide..."
The Plot to Discredit and Destroy Julian Assange
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-plot-to-discredit-and-destroy-juli...
"Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer spoke with Tariq Ali, a renowned British journalist and co-editor of a recent collection of essays titled 'In Defense of Julian Assange'. Corporate media's abandonment of Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning is no surprise to Scheer, who has spent much of his career defending and working with whistleblowers Daniel Ellsberg, John Kiriakou, Edward Snowden and others.
'I thought I knew a lot about this case. And I was surprised, in reading this book, that I fell for some of the traps set by the mass media and the governments. I must say, much to my shame, had I not read this book carefully, I was falling for some of the personal attacks and attempts to discount the significance of Julian Assange. Having read the book - and I think its 450, almost 500 pages - I was rewarded with an understanding, a very clear understanding, that Julian Assange is truly one of the most important journalists of, I don't know what, the last 50 years. I ended up sort of in a rage at the end of this, thinking, how dare anyone challenge Julian Assange's role..."
Hundreds of Journalists Around the World Sign Open Letter Demanding Freedom For Assange
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/09/jour-d09.html
"Hundreds of journalists and media workers from every corner of the globe have put their name to an impassioned open letter demanding the unconditional freedom of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and an immediate 'end to the legal campaign being waged against him for the crime of revealing war crimes..."
No surprise to find so few from our own reactionary liberal shit-hole Canada. Hey Rabble.ca, Tell us why you won't support this?
Please forward to every journalist you can. As soon as they see names such as Chomsky, Ellsberg etc they may sign, not really because they have changed their reactionary views, but because among their kind 'being cool' and 'with it' and seeing their name included with celebrity progressives trumps any real political convictions they mostly do not have in any case.
Julian Assange Denied Access to Lawyers and Vital Evidence in US Extradition Case
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/14/assa-d14.html
"WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared via videolink at Westminister Magistrates Court in London yesterday for a brief administrative hearing. The half-hour proceedings confirm that the fundamental legal rights of the world-famous investigative journalist are being trampled in what amounts to an extraordinary rendition.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser began the hearing by referring to complaints by Assange's defence lawyer Gareth Peirce that her client's access to legal counsel is inadequate. Baraitser claimed that she had 'no desire to stand in the way of any lawyer having proper access to their client. It is clearly in the interest of justice that they do so.' Her subsquent actions proved this to be a barefaced lie.
Yesterday's half-hour proceedings took place just hours after the UK general election that delivered a Conservative government. The most right-wing government in modern British history is headed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose 'special relationship' with the Trump administration saw him welcome the brutal expulsion of Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy on April 11, writing 'It's only right that Julian Assange finally faces justice. Credit to foreign office officials who have worked tirelessly to secure this outcome."
Comments on this progressive Canadian website at the time and before were similar in substance and tone to Johnson's.
Luke Harding's False and Vindictive 'Reporting' About WikiLeaks and Assange
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1209465095258099713
"The Guardian admits its reporters L Harding , SKirchgaessner and Dcollyns gave a 'misleading impression to readers' and breached paper's code in one of infamous series of fake news stories about Assange from 2018 which helped put him in Belmarsh."
In Defence of Julian Assange
https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1208074973237186560
"93 journalists (and whistleblowers) from 90 countries have signed the letter in defence of Julian Assange."
Please forward and copy to Canadian journos who thus far have only parroted anti-Assange msm smear and disinformation.
Doctors Ask Government to Evacuate Assange to an Australian Hospital
https://twitter.com/DCKennard/status/1210488194074075136
"Major task for all journalists/engaged citizens in 2020 is to save Julian Assange's life. If Assange dies in Belmarsh or UK delivers him to the clutches of Trump admin, we all lose a major slice of our freedom, one we'll probably never get back. High stakes."
Short Of Time: Julian Assange at the Westminster Magistrate's Court
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/01/16/short-of-time-julian-assange-at-...
"Another slot of judical history, another notch to be added to the woeful record of legal proceedings being taken against Julian Assange. The ailing Wikileaks founder was coping as well as he could, showing the resourcefulness of the desperate at his Monday hearing..."
Julian Assange Leaves UK Court in Prison Van
The Prosecution of Julian Assange, the Destruction of Legality and the Rise of the National Security State
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/15/assa-j15.html
"The prosecution of Assange marks a new stage in the onslaught on core democratic rights and legality by the US, British and, indeed, global ruling class. The US government now seeks to establish as 'law' that journalistic activity, which discloses or publishes classified defence and other information, is criminal and amounts to espionage: that journalists will be imprisoned as spies..."
"Those who looked the other way because they personally disliked Julian Assange when the DOJ indicted him under a legal theory that merely publishing clear public-interest journalism could constitute multiple Espionage Act violations should reconsider where that roads leads."
Nozomi Hayase: The Assange Precedent - The Spark That Lit The Fire In The War on Journalism
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/01/24/assange-precedent-spark-li...
"This is the most important press freedom case of the 21st century."
But evidently not for some Canucklhead 'progressives' or Canadian media alternative or mainstream who are still stuck in hoary and long since discredited Guardian 'rapist' or 'Putin's puppet made Hillary lose' smear and disinformation attack narratives. Now, perhaps out of shame or embarrassment they avert their eyes and say/do nothing. On the other hand since their 'support' is in any case usually intangible, exists only in their own heads, and so is ultimately worthless and non-existent - nothing lost nothing gained.
Belmarsh Inmates Prove More Ethical Than Entire Western Empire (and vid)
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/01/25/belmarsh-inmates-prove-more-ethica...
"In some refreshingly good news about Julian Assange, WikiLeaks is reporting that its founder has finally been moved out of solitary confinement to a different wing in Belmarsh Prison where he can have social interaction with 40 other inmates. So what caused this shift in Assange's treatment? Did the powerful empire-like alliance loosely centralized around the United States suddenly come to its senses and realize that torturing journalists for telling the truth is the sort of tyrannical abuse that it accuses other governments of perpetrating?
Why no. As it turns out, Assange was in fact rescued from the cruelty of this globe-sprawling empire by the concerned protests of high-security prison inmates. What does it tell you about the society you are living in that this population has a superior moral compass to the people who are actually running things?"
Free Julian Assange Before It's Too Late - Sign To STOP the USA Extradition
https://www.change.org/p/free-julian-assange-before-it-s-too-late-stop-u...
Please sign and forward.
With the 'rape' stitch-up long collapsed and exposed, the loss of the election and mounting public pressure and questions about his long silence, finally on his way out the door, Jeremy Corbyn speaks up on a matter of vital concern. (and vid)
"The rights of journalists and whistleblowers like Julian Assange must be upheld - and his extradition must be opposed."
Max Blumenthal and the Imperial NGOs that Ignore Julian Assange (and vid)
https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1229139497050365952
"Max Blumenthal gave an excellent - and hilarious-talk about the witch-hunt against WikiLeaks publisher and political prisoner Julian Assange, and how billionaire-funded 'human-rights' and 'press-freedom' non profit orgs have refused to support him."
Australian [and all Western MS] Media Maintains Unconscionable Boycott on Case of Julian Assange
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/17/auas-f17.html
"It is unconscionable that what can only be described as an almost total media blackout is taking place on the Assange case on the eve of the extradition hearings. Developments that are inherently in the public interest are being flagrantly censored..."
Free All Political Prisoners Including Julian Assange
https://www.blackagendareport.com/free-all-political-prisoners-including...
"Julian Assange [and Chelsea Manning] must be set free, like all other political prisoners of US Empire,' said BAR executive editor Glen Ford. 'Nobody has been pursued with more ferocity by the US national security state than Julian Assange..."
WikiLeaks Demands Answers as Twitter Account LOCKED Ahead of Assange Extradition Hearing
"WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristin Hrafnssan is seeking answers after the publisher's official account was mysteriously locked ahead of an extradition for founder Julian Assange, who faces life in a US jail (or worse). Hrafnsson claimed the @wikileaks Twitter account had been locked 'shortly before Assange extradition hearing' and for no apparent reason, in a post from his personal account on Monday. Lamenting he had been unable to 'reach a human at Twitter' for answers, Hrafnsson tagged both the platform's tech support and CEO Jack Dorsey. Assange's extradition hearing in the UK, which a court ordered to be split into two parts, is set to begin next week.
There does seem to be a coordinated campaign to memory-hole the WikiLeaks founder, who has been pursued by the US government for over a decade for publishing its deepest darkest secrets and who faces a 175 year prison sentence if extradited from the UK. Media reports on press freedom have conspicuously avoided all mention of the incarcerated publisher, while a 'media freedom' conference [co-hosted by Canada] held in London last year also avoided mention of the elephant in the room..."
Official Malevolence for Secrets Revealed: Tory Minister Calls Assange a 'Miserable Little Worm' (and vid)
Supported by western fake lib-left and 'Guardianista' imperial-socialists. Let this be a lesson to all contemplating whistle-blowing or publishing 'official secrets'. You will be smeared, demonized and left unsupported by the western fake liberal-left. Don't do it. Leave them in their own shit to work it out for themselves.
Free Julian Assange - Sign to Stop the US Extradition: Global Protest Info
https://www.change.org/p/free-julian-assange-before-it-s-too-late-stop-u...
"The next 7 days will be massive. I will try to detail the schedule of upcoming events which will occur around the world over the next 7 days in this Update. See list of Global Protests around the world and join in if you can. Monday, 24th Feb is the first day of Julian Assange's extradition hearing.
TORONTO RALLY
Sunday, 23 February, 360 University Ave, 12 Noon Rally (US Consulate, St Patrick TTC Stn)
Victoria, BC
Friday, 28th February, Victoria BC, Jam4Julian, 761 Station Ave, Langford, 7:30 PM
see also: Events on FB:
Doctors’ Letter Published in The Lancet
Authors demand an end to the torture & medical neglect of Julian Assange...
Link to the letter: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30383-4/fulltext
Ahead of Julian Assange’s upcoming extradition hearing on February 24, a letter by a group of doctors representing 117 physicians and psychologists from 18 nations calls for an end to the psychological torture and medical neglect of Julian Assange. Published in the pre-eminent medical journal The Lancet, the letter expresses concern over Julian Assange’s fitness for his legal proceedings while suffering the effects of ongoing psychological torture.
A copy of the letter has been sent to the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne. This follows the doctors’ earlier letter of December 16 2019, calling on Minister Payne to bring Julian Assange home to Australia for urgent medical care. A copy has also been sent to the UK Government, which the doctors accuse of violating Julian Assange’s human right to health. In a covering note to Marise Payne the doctors urged the Minister to “act decisively now” to remove Mr Assange from Belmarsh prison, before it is too late.
The Lancet letter affirms the alarm raised by UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, and several specialists in the field, that Mr. Assange is in a dire state of health due to the effects of prolonged psychological torture in both the Ecuadorian embassy and Belmarsh Prison, where he has been arbitrarily detained according to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention....
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/02/17/doctors-for-assange-ratchet-up-pre...
President Trump offered to pardon Julian Assange if he agreed to cover up the involvement of Russia in hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee, which were later published by WikiLeaks, a London court was told Wednesday.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-offered-assange-pardon-if-he-covered-up-russian-hack-court-hears
President Trump offered to pardon Julian Assange if he agreed to cover up the involvement of Russia in hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee, which were later published by WikiLeaks, a London court was told Wednesday.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-offered-assange-pardon-if-he-covered-up-russian-hack-court-hears
A London court was told...by Assange's own lawyers. I suppose they are part of the deep state now.
What a bizarre statement, bekayne. What's your position here? Should they throw away the key because of electoral interference, or for helping democrats look bad, or for helping break encryption?
The daily beast story is interesting on some levels, unsurprising on others. I remember some media mentions about a possible pardon for Assange being negotiated in 2017. But persecuting Assange is a bipartisan affair, his treatment is outrageous and he should be freed.
The Putin-Trump conspiracy theorists, like the flat-earth society, will never stop believing...
'It's a joke. The whole world is laughing...' - Chomsky -
I forget who originally linked to juice media on rabble, but I've been enjoying their videos very much. Here's their video on Assange:
The Putin-Trump conspiracy theorists, like the flat-earth society, will never stop believing...
'It's a joke. The whole world is laughing...' - Chomsky -
So you're saying Assange is lying?
Lawyer's don't usually make claims in court they can't prove. Will be interesting to see if there is proof of these serious allegations Rohrabacher was the WH's messenger, offering a pardon in exchange for silence on Russia's hack of our election.
https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1230187295283777536
Josh: I am entirely at a loss to what you (or Joyce White Vance, MSNBC legal analyist) thinks this is supposed to prove. Is this proof of Wikileaks-Russia collusion to you? If Rohrabacher is truthful, not acting on his own (as "Putin's favourite congressmen", as per the article), of course it makes sense Trump would want this statement in 2017 from Assange to undercut the Russia investigation. It would be a direct refutation of the dominant media narrative at the time. And of course it would have been seen as collusion for Trump to pardon Assange on those grounds, so of course he would use a middleman and maintain plausible deniability. And he's already denied he directed Rohrabacher, which again is what we should expect, regardless of the truth.
None of this speaks to, or proves anything about what actually happened re: DNC hacking, Russian collusion, or "foreign interference in the election". Trumps motive to get this statement is the same regardless of who hacked the DNC under whomever's orders.
I don't get your priorities or intent here. We have one of the most important whistleblowers/journalists of the past 20 years imprisoned, about to face a procedurally farcical trial in an unrelentingly hostile media environment, and now's the time to look for/hope for proof of Russian collusion?
Josh: What do you think should happen to Assange?
More embarrassing and unfounded Trump derangement syndrome drivel. Waste of time going down their rabbithole.
Well, I get where you are coming from, NDPP, but I'm a glass half-full kind of guy, from which hope springs eternal.
And I would very much like to know what Josh and others who worry about Russian collusion or DNC hacking think should happen to Assange.
Of course, NDPP didn't answer my question.
Offering a pardon in return for testimony beneficial to you during an investigation is abuse of power. Offering a pardon for false testimony is obstruction of justice and suborning perjury. Criminal offenses.
Josh: Yes, both your above statements are true. Trump has denied directing "the ex-congressmen" and Wikileaks will not have or be providing proof he did. It's going nowhere, except it's brief shelf life as clickbait for Rachel Maddow fans.
So can we return to talking about Assange? What do you think he did and what do you think should happen to him?
Oh, Trump denied it. Well that settles it.
I think Assange should be given immunity from prosecution in return for testifying against Rohrbacher and Trump.
