Wikileaks - Julian Assange Discussion

Following Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's exposure of former FBI Director James Comey's mishandling of the Hillary Clinton email case, investigative journalist John Solomon has shed light on Comey's meddling in the DOJ's negotiations with Julian Assange ahead of a massive disclosure of CIA cyber malpractice.

26.06.2018 - Vault 7, DNC Hacking: How Comey's Intervention Upset DOJ Deal With Assange
Vault 7, DNC Hacking: How Comey's Intervention Upset DOJ Deal With Assange

In a single shot, former FBI Director James Comey had put the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under fire and killed an opportunity to find out who had hacked the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) email server during the 2016 presidential race, writes award-winning investigative journalist John Solomon.

In his op-ed for The Hill, Solomon described how US Justice Department (DOJ) officials negotiated an "immunity deal" with WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange ahead of the famous "Vault 7" release. The leak exposed the CIA's global hacking techniques, which "damaged [the agency's] cyber warfare capabilities for a long time to come," as the investigative journalist remarked, citing US officials.

On February 4, 2017, WikiLeaks started leaking cryptic questions about it's forthcoming dump code-named Vault-7, attracting a lot of attention from social media users across the world.

However, the story actually began in January 2017 when Assange's lawyers approached American attorney Adam Waldman, a former Clinton Justice Department official, offering a deal.

The parties negotiated "limited immunity" for Julian Assange who has been virtually locked in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 2012. The deal was "subject to adequate and binding protections, including but not limited to an acceptable immunity and safe passage agreement," as Waldman wrote in his email to David Laufman, then head of the DOJ's counterintelligence and export controls section on March 28, 2017, following WikiLeaks' March 7 publication of the first part of the CIA-related classified documents.

In exchange, Assange agreed to consider certain redactions in the classified documents he was about to release. However, he declined to compromise his sources, or stop publishing information, according to Solomon.

Furthermore, the WikiLeaks founder dropped a hint that he could provide technical evidence shedding light on "who did not engage" in the DNC data breach in 2016. "The US government believes those emails were hacked by Russia; Assange insists they did not come from Moscow," the investigative journalist highlighted.


Nate @BeansTown106

"We Have a Crisis of Democracy" and it isn't Trump

NSA cyber chief was ordered to stand down against "Russian hacking".

DOJ was in talks with Assange for an immunity deal for DNC/Podesta hacking info and Comey shut it down.

Why did the Obama administration fear the Truth?
3:22 AM - Jun 26, 2018

However, James Comey's sudden intervention spelled the end of the potential deal: The FBI chief had signaled to Waldman that he had to "stand down" and "end the discussions with Assange" without further explanation. According to Solomon, although Comey's controversial instructions had not immediately killed the deal, they sowed deep distrust in Assange's legal team.

The second release of CIA documents unmasking the agency's specific cyber tools by WikiLeaks on April 7, 2017, triggered a storm of criticism from the US government that backed out of the negotiations, the investigative journalist stressed.

On June 25, 2018, WikiLeaks tweeted that the organization "can confirm the accuracy of the Hill report on Comey, however, it should be noted that 'immunity/safe passage' was limited to covering the talks."

On April 25, 2017, Julian Assange published an op-ed in The Washington Post in response to then CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who slammed WikiLeaks, dubbing it a "hostile intelligence service."

The WikiLeaks founder referred to Pompeo and Donald Trump's double standard approach, recalling that earlier the two hailed the DNC email server leak, which apparently played into the hands of the Republican Party.

"Vault 7 has begun publishing evidence of remarkable CIA incompetence and other shortcomings," Assange wrote. "This includes the agency's creation, at a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars, of an entire arsenal of cyber viruses and hacking programs — over which it promptly lost control and then tried to cover up the loss."


Terry Williams @DeplorableWill1

Why did @Comey kill an immunity deal between @USAgov and @wikileaks? Assange is the only person who can say with proof, it wasn't Russia who hacked the DNC. #sethrich @seanhannity @SaraCarterDC @POTUS @DonaldJTrumpJr
11:26 AM - Jun 26, 2018

The damage was done and the rest is history; however, the question as to why James Comey intervened and what his genuine motivation was still remains unanswered.


27.06.2018 - Plot Thickens: Analyst Explains Why Comey Meddled in Assange-DOJ Talks
Plot Thickens: Analyst Explains Why Comey Meddled in Assange-DOJ Talks

Ex-FBI Director James Comey and some former Obama administration officials would have had much to lose if Julian Assange had shared his vision on what happened during the 2016 US presidential race, Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel opined speaking to Sputnik, explaining why the ex-FBI chief was so "incurious" about the DNC server hacking.

The story of a might-have been deal between the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange told by John Solomon left one question unanswered: Why did former FBI Director James Comey step in and upset the agreement?

Sputnik got in touch with Wall Street analyst and investigative journalist Charles Ortel, asking him to share his opinion on the matter.

"Comey was/is intimately familiar with the Steele dossier, and likely knows much concerning which foreign intelligence services may have proven useful in developing allegations against Americans and others connected to the Trump presidential campaign and to the incoming Trump administration," the investigative journalist noted, referring to the dodgy "Trump dossier" prepared by former British intelligence officer with the secret intelligence service MI6, Christopher David Steele.

Ortel explained that "prior to the presidential election on November 8, 2016, Comey and others may have felt their various activities would stand them in good stead with Hillary Clinton, who most assumed would easily defeat Donald Trump."

However, when their hopes did not come true, it is likely that many Obama administration officials, including the former president, were seriously concerned that they could soon "find themselves in legal jeopardy," the investigative journalist pointed out.

"Perhaps in league with other Obama era holdovers, Comey and Senator [Mark] Warner (let's not forget that he and the recently indicted leaking Senate staffer [James Wolfe, 58] have much to lose from determined investigations into history) likely decided to flush the Assange negotiations, perhaps encouraged by contacts in the UK intelligence community, who may also stand exposed for their cooperation in Trump-related investigations," the Wall Street analyst suggested.

Why Comey Remains so Incurious About the DNC Hack

In some twist of fate, Comey's intervention in the Assange-DOJ investigation also killed a chance to find out what forces had been involved in the Democratic National Committee's server hacking during the 2016 presidential race. WikiLeaks' founder was ready to provide ample evidence that Russia had not been behind the data breach.

On the other hand, it still raises questions as to why the Comey-led FBI had not examined the DNS server following the alleged cyber intrusion.

"Among many inexplicable decisions, the failure of the FBI to demand and obtain the DNC servers, and then the failures of Obama administration Justice Department officials to determine quickly and before the 2016 election happened whether Russia or other foreign powers may have been interfering is tough to fathom," Ortel highlighted.

He recalled that under the Obama administration numerous accusations were made about supposed cyber espionage by states including China, North Korea, Iran and others.

"The logical move for the FBI after DNC hacking claims were made would have been to use the sophisticated tools that our Federal government does have to learn the truth," the Wall Street journalist emphasized. "Yet, Comey displayed and still displays a remarkable lack of interest in figuring out what happened with DNC server breaches, and with claims that Pakistani government-linked spies may have obtained Congressional and state secrets through use by so many Democrats of the Awan family."

It was previously reported that Imran Awan, an IT employee of ex-DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and his family had access to the e-mails and electronic files of members of the House's Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Committees for years.

A bad reason Comey and others remain so incurious may well be that they know exactly who started the Russian collusion narrative, that this narrative started much earlier than we presently know, and that US political interests and nations that had most to lose from a Trump presidency laid illegal traps various ways," the investigative journalist presumed.

Comey's Intrusion Appears to be a Plot

The question then arises as to whether it was Comey's own initiative to meddle in the DOJ's negotiations with Julian Assange or a "collective" decision.

"I see this much more as a plot," Ortel responded. "At first, to curry favor with Hillary Clinton, that quickly morphed into madcap efforts to protect Barack Obama, John Kerry, Loretta Lynch, James Comey and others in the pro-globalist, anti-Trump cabal."

The Wall Street analyst also presumed that in general, a Trump presidency was likely seen during 2016 as a threat to the "special relationship" between left-leaning British elites and their counterparts in the United States. Similarly, pro-globalist elites viewed the potential US-Russia rapprochement under Trump as a threat, he added.

"Knowing how much so many in the Obama administration may have colluded to promote Hillary Clinton's candidacy and then to obstruct president-elect, numerous persons likely pulled strings over James Comey until President Trump correctly, yet belatedly, fired him," Ortel suggested.

According to Ortel, "the forthcoming Inspector General Horowitz report concerning how Obama era officials and others may have ordered and attempted to cover up illegal spying on Americans by US and allied government security services should further shake the Washington, D.C. establishment to its core."

On June 25, award-winning investigative journalist John Solomon came up with a story about how Julian Assange tried to make a deal with the Trump administration in January 2017, ahead of WikiLeaks' massive exposure of CIA global hacking techniques in March-April 2017. According to Solomon, Comey's unexpected instructions to stop negotiations undermined the deal placing the CIA under fire and preventing Assange from disclosing the secret of the DNC server.

It wasn't a mere chance that Assange's lawyers approached DOJ officials to strike a deal. As Ortel remarked, the WikiLeaks founder and his team "hoped that the incoming Trump administration might be more receptive than previous administrations to negotiating a change in Assange's legal predicament, in exchange for useful information."

The views and opinions expressed by Charles Ortel and Ekaterina Blinova are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

https://t.co/zWACFjmPJu
 
Unfortunately it isn't looking good for Julian Assange. There are rumours that the embassy of Ecuador will hand him over to the Brits:

Ecuador is ready to hand over the WikiLeaks founder to the UK in “coming weeks or even days,” RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said citing her own sources, as prospects of his eviction from the embassy are back in the media.

“My sources tell [Julian] Assange will be handed over to Britain in the coming weeks or even days,” Simonyan wrote in a recent tweet which was reposted by WikiLeaks. “Like never before, I wish my sources were wrong,” she continued.

Simonyan's message comes, as speculations Ecuador is in talks with the UK over the future of Assange are back again in British press. Earlier this week, the Times reported Britain is locked in top-tier discussions with the Ecuadorians in a bid to remove Assange from their London embassy.

Sir Alan Duncan, the Foreign Office minister, is said to be spearheading the diplomatic effort. Sources close to Assange said he himself was not aware of the talks but believed that America was putting “significant pressure” on Ecuador, including threatening to block a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if he continues to stay at the embassy.

The Times report comes just weeks before a visit to the UK by the newly-elected Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno, who has labeled Assange a “hacker”, an “inherited problem” and a “stone in the shoe.”

There have been other worrying signs indicating Assange is steadily becoming a troublemaker for Ecuador. In late March this year, the Ecuadorian government has suspended Assange’s communication privileges with the outside world, cutting off his Internet connection at the embassy.

The move was sparked by Assange’s alleged breach of an agreement to refrain from interfering in other states’ affairs. Previously, he blasted the Spanish government for cracking down on the Catalan independence movement.

Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy since 2012 when he asked the Latin American state for asylum. The 47-year-old was wanted by Sweden on sexual assault allegations, but feared the extradition would lead to him being transferred to the US and prosecuted without a fair trial.

The US has been saying that Assange was “engaged in terrorism,” with Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, last year calling his arrest a “priority.” Over the years, WikiLeaks has published hundreds of thousands of classified US files, including the cables on the Iraq War, leaked by whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010.

Despite the Swedish investigation against him being closed in May last year, the Australian journalist was still unable to leave the embassy because of an outstanding British warrant for allegedly breaching bail conditions and no guarantees of him not being sent to the US.

Over the years, the whistleblower has been supported by activists and human rights groups, who demanded he be freed. A UN panel also found that Assange’s stay in the embassy amounted to “arbitrary detention,” but it wasn’t enough to change his fate.

Ecuador to hand over Assange to UK ‘in coming weeks or days,’ own sources tell RT's editor-in chief
 
Gawan said:
Unfortunately it isn't looking good for Julian Assange.

It does look bad. Even if Assange were to spill the beans and go against his Wikileaks rule of not revealing a source, the PTB and their MSM puppets will denigrate or ignore what he has to say.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Assange 'suicided' or locked up in solitary like Tommy Robinson - the latter of whom I suspect may be an unwitting or actual agent made up to infuriate certain segments of the public, thus making the end game of getting rid of all Islamic peoples occur. Of course, it's safe to assume Assange may be an agent too.

The only good news is that more and more people are waking up to the fact that the PTB are in panic mode right now and can't keep a lid on information like they used to.

So many games. So many lies. So much hysteria. We really do live in interesting times!
 
Unfortunately it isn't looking good for Julian Assange. There are rumours that the embassy of Ecuador will hand him over to the Brits

That's really a shame, but I'm not surprised. The current president of Ecuador -Lenin Moreno- is a traitor, and a real one. You might know about him already, but he won the elections only because he was under the Rafael Correa's wings -the forme president- and was supposed to follow his policies, yet, as soon as he got to power he revealed his true colours. According to what I've read, many people in Ecuador feel betrayed by him, as he started to change the policies in favour of external intervention by corporations, and now he's further attacking Correa by trying to send him to prison over a kidnapping that happened in Colombia! From the very beginning Moreno said that Assange was something like burden he inherited from the former government and seemed willing to get rid of this "burden".

Too sad...
 
Ecuador's National Communications Ministry (SECOM) denied in a statement on Friday that founder of the whistleblowing organization WikiLeaks Julian Assange had been ordered to leave the country's embassy in the UK capital.

28.07.2018 - Ecuador's Communications Ministry Denies Assange Told to Leave Embassy in London
Ecuador's Communications Ministry Denies Assange Told to Leave Embassy in London

Earlier in the day, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno said Assange would ultimately have to leave the embassy where he has lived since June 2012. The UK Prime Minister's Office spokesperson told Sputnik that the United Kingdom and Ecuador continued discussing the situation around Assange but said the issue had not been raised during Moreno's latest visit to London.

The National Communications Ministry says that President of the Republic [of Ecuador] Lenin Moreno did not order that Julian Assange leave the Embassy of Ecuador in London at any point," the ministry's statement read.

According to the ministry, Moreno said the issue should be resolved through the negotiations between Ecuador and the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Carlos Poveda, one of Assange's lawyers, told Sputnik on Friday that the legal defense team of Julian Assange was concerned over the position of the Ecuadorian government on the situation around the founder of whistleblowing organization WikiLeaks, as the government's representatives refused to meet with his lawyers.

"We closely followed the statements of President Lenin Moreno both in the United Kingdom and in Spain and we should note that the team of lawyers… asked for a meeting in London or Madrid, but they were told that the agenda did not allow such a meeting," Poveda said.

The lawyer noted that Moreno's statements caused concern because previously it had been officially stated that the Assange case would not be discussed during Moreno's trip to Europe.

"We know that Assange's issue is somehow being considered… which leads us into confusion. We are surprised by his personal position, which shows that he has never agreed with the granting asylum," the lawyer said.


28.07.2018 - Assange's Defenders Alarmed at Ecuador's Wish to End His Stay in Embassy
Assange's Defenders Alarmed at Ecuador's Wish to End His Stay in Embassy

During his European trip, the country’s President Moreno confirmed that his government has been in contact with the British authorities and stated that the whistleblower should eventually leave the embassy, where he took refuge in 2012 fearing extradition to the US for leaking documents on the Iraq War.

The legal team of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has remained in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for six years fearing extradition to the US, has told Sputnik that the representatives of the country’s government have refused to meet the whistleblower’s defenders.

According to one of his lawyers, Carlos Poveda, they requested talks in London or Madrid, but were rebuffed as “the agenda did not allow such a meeting."

He voiced concern after the recent statements by Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno, who recently confirmed during his European tour that his country is having talks with the UK authorities on Assange. The defender points out that it had been officially stated that Assange’s case wouldn’t be discussed during Moreno’s trip to Europe.

"We know that Assange's issue is somehow being considered… which leads us to confusion. We are surprised by his personal position, which shows that he has never agreed with the granting of asylum," the lawyer told Sputnik.

The recent development also outraged the whistleblower’s supporters, who shared their revolt on Twitter and in protests.

In Madrid, where Moreno headed after a visit to the UK, he said that "The only person I’ve never talked to is Mr. Assange," confirming that Ecuadorian authorities “are constantly talking with the British Government, with the ambassador, who is their representative in Ecuador."

Moreno also said that Assange should eventually leave the country's embassy and disapproved of Assange's activity, never agreeing with “the interventions in people's private emails in order to obtain information.”

He stressed, however, that all Ecuador wants is the guarantee that Assange’s life wouldn’t be in danger.

Later, Ecuador's National Communications Ministry issued a statement saying that “President of the Republic [of Ecuador] Lenin Moreno did not order that Julian Assange leave the Embassy of Ecuador in London at any point."

Assange took refuge at Ecuador’s Embassy in London in 2012 after he was accused of sexual offenses in Sweden during the presidency of Rafael Correa. While the charges have since been dropped, he still fears extradition to the United States, where he is wanted for leaking Iraq War logs.

Following Lenín Moreno taking the office in 2017, the leaker’s conditions have taken a turn for the worse. In March, the embassy cut off Assange's internet access, stating the 46-year-old had violated an agreement that stated he would not interfere with Ecuador's relationship with other countries.

Moreno, who referred to Assange as “more than a nuisance” and an “inherited problem,” also ordered the shutting down of special security reports that the country had spent at least $5 million on a spy operation to support and protect Assange in its embassy in London.
 
I worry, if Assange were to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London (now) without the proper safe guards, he'll eventually end up on the Skripal-cide list?

August 8, 2018 - Assange Free to Leave Ecuadorian Embassy If London Guarantees Safety: President
Assange Free to Leave Ecuadorian Embassy If London Guarantees Safety: President

Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno has said that WikiLeaks’ founder, Julian Assange, is free to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London any time, but only if Britain guarantees his safety.

According to Moreno, Ecuadorian authorities are currently in talks with Assange’s lawyers to work out an agreement that would ensure the security of the WikiLeaks’ founder “‘in line with the norms of international law.”

“If we come to an agreement, we’ll be happy to ask Mr. Assange to leave the embassy and surrender himself to legal investigation,” Lenin Moreno said in an interview with the national TV channel NTN24.

Late last month Moreno said that Julian Assange should leave the premises of the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Shortly afterwards, media reports said that the Australian journalist planned to walk out of the Ecuadorian mission due to health problems related to his long-time isolation.
 
09.08.2018 - US Gov't Needs to Ensure Assange's Protection Amid Testimony Request - Lawyer
US Gov't Needs to Ensure Assange's Protection Amid Testimony Request - Lawyer

The WikiLeaks founder's lawyer Jennifer Robinson has said the request by The US Senate Select Committee shows US interest in Assange's testimonies and confirmed that the activist is looking into the possibility of giving them in case his safety is assured.

"We are seriously considering the offer but must ensure Mr Assange's protection is guaranteed," Robinson said.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW
 
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday Moscow has not held any talks either with the associates of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange or the staff of the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, where he has been residing for years, regarding Assange's reportedly prepared escape from the United Kingdom.


Matthew Chattle | Barcroft Images | Getty Images
Julian Assange speaks to the media from the balcony of the Embassy Of Ecuador on May 19, 2017 in London, England.

Sat Sep 22, 2018 - Russia Denies Contacting Assange's Associates over Alleged Escape Plan
Farsnews

"The article contains a whole series of similar anti-Russia innuendos. On our part, we stress that Russian diplomats have not contacted either the staff of the Ecuadoran Embassy in London or Mr. Assange's associates in order to assist in his leaving the territory of the United Kingdom,"

The foreign ministry added that regular meetings between Russian and Ecuadoran diplomats in London were nothing more than a regular practice of diplomatic relations.

On Friday, The Guardian newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources, that Russia had allegedly secretly contacted Assange's associates in London in order to help him escape from the embassy. According to the newspaper, Russia was considered as one of the options for his final destination.

Assange has been residing in the Ecuadorian Embassy since June 2012 after the United Kingdom granted his extradition to Sweden, where he was accused of sexual offenses. While the Swedish police dropped the charges in 2017, Assange is still wary of being extradited to the United States, where he is wanted for leaking classified documents of the US State Department.


Sept, 21, 2018 - Revealed: Russia’s secret plan to help Julian Assange escape from UK
Revealed: Russia’s secret plan to help Julian Assange escape from UK

Russian diplomats held secret talks in London last year with people close to Julian Assange to assess whether they could help him flee the UK, the Guardian has learned.

A tentative plan was devised that would have seen the WikiLeaks founder smuggled out of Ecuador’s London embassy in a diplomatic vehicle and transported to another country.

One ultimate destination, multiple sources have said, was Russia, where Assange would not be at risk of extradition to the US. The plan was abandoned after it was deemed too risky. (Article continues.)


Sept, 21, 2018 - Ecuador attempted to give Wikileaks' Julian Assange diplomat post in Russia: Document
Ecuador attempted to give Wikileaks' Julian Assange diplomat post in Russia: Document
  • Ecuador in 2017 gave Wikileaks founder Julian Assange a diplomatic post in Russia.

  • But the offer was rescinded after Britain refused to give him diplomatic immunity, according to an Ecuadorean government document seen by Reuters.

  • The aborted effort suggests Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno had engaged Moscow to resolve the situation of Assange's presence in Ecuador's embassy in London.
Ecuador in 2017 gave Wikileaks founder Julian Assange a diplomatic post in Russia but rescinded it after Britain refused to give him diplomatic immunity, according to an Ecuadorean government document seen by Reuters.

The aborted effort suggests Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno had engaged Moscow to resolve the situation of Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy for six years to avoid arrest by British authorities on charges of skipping bail.
The incident was revealed in a letter by Ecuador's foreign ministry to a legislator who had asked for information about Ecuador's decision last year to grant Assange citizenship.

Ecuador last Dec. 19 approved a "special designation in favor of Mr. Julian Assange so that he can carry out functions at the Ecuadorean Embassy in Russia," according to the letter written to opposition legislator Paola Vintimilla.

"Special designation" refers to the Ecuadorean president's right to name political allies to a fixed number of diplomatic posts even if they are not career diplomats.

But Britain's Foreign Office in a Dec. 21 note said it did not accept Assange as a diplomat and that it did not "consider that Mr. Assange enjoys any type of privileges and immunities under the Vienna Convention," reads the letter, citing a British diplomatic note.

Ecuador abandoned its decision shortly after, according to the letter.

British authorities have said they will arrest Assange if he leaves the embassy, meaning he would have needed to be recognized as a diplomat in order to travel to Moscow.

Lawyers for Assange in the United States and Britain did not respond to requests for comment. WikiLeaks website did not respond to an email seeking comment. The Ecuadorean foreign ministry could not be reached for comment.

The plan to make Assange an Ecuadorean diplomat was made public last year, but the effort to send him to Moscow has not been previously reported.

U.S. intelligence agencies in 2017 said they believed WikiLeaks was an intermediary used by Russia to publish emails hacked from top Democrats to embarrass 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

U.S. President Donald Trump faces an investigation into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to win that election. Assange denies receiving the emails from Russia, but has not ruled out having obtained them from a third party. Trump and Russia deny collusion.

The Guardian newspaper on Friday reported that Russian diplomats held secret talks in London to help Assange flee Britain through an operation tentatively scheduled for Christmas Eve, 2017.

The story, which cited unidentified sources, said "details of the plan were sketchy" and that it was aborted because it was deemed too risky.

"The Embassy has never engaged either with Ecuadorian colleagues, or with anyone else, in discussions on any kind of Russia's participation in ending Mr Assange's stay within the diplomatic mission of Ecuador," Russia's embassy in London wrote on its web site in a response to The Guardian story.

It was not immediately evident if Ecuadorean officials had any contact with Russia as part of the Assange appointment.

Reuters was unable to obtain comment from Russia's foreign ministry on Ecuador's plan to make him a diplomat there.

The letter from Ecuador's foreign ministry was a summary of 28 documents that were sent to Vintimilla in response to her request.

Among those documents is a Dec. 4 letter from Assange in which he renounced his request for political asylum from Ecuador in preparation to become an Ecuadorean diplomat. The letter, which was seen by Reuters, said he ultimately planned to travel to Ecuador.

Vintimilla, who discussed some of the documents during a Thursday press conference, said Assange should lose his citizenship as a result of that letter.

Assange sought asylum in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questions about allegations of sex crimes, accusations that were later dropped.

Ecuador's president Moreno has said Assange's asylum cannot be eternal, but has also been reluctant to abruptly halt it on concerns that Assange's human rights could be at risk.
 
Julian Assange, who remains in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London fearing extradition to the US, hasn’t been allowed to communicate with anybody but his lawyers since this March. Although the whistleblower remains the official head of WikiLeaks, an Icelandic investigative journalist has taken over his job as editor-in-chief.

27.09.2018 - WikiLeaks gets New Boss while Assange remains cut off from Outside World
WikiLeaks Gets New Boss While Assange Remains Cut Off From Outside World

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has appointed its former spokesman, Icelandic journalist Kristinn Hrafnsson, to replace him as editor-in-chief.

Kristinn Hrafnsson, who has been named Iceland's journalist of the year several times, has worked extensively with WikiLeaks. He took part in the Collateral Murder publishing collaboration, served as the spokesperson of the NGO from 2010 until 2016, and has overseen several legal projects for the organization since then.

In his statement, quoted by WikiLeaks, Hrafnsson condemned the silencing of Julian Assange that had facilitated his career move.

“But I welcome the responsibility to secure the continuation of the important work based on WikiLeaks ideas,” his statement reads.


27.09.2018 - New Face of WikiLeaks: Facts to know about Kristinn Hrafnsson
New Face of WikiLeaks: Facts to Know About Kristinn Hrafnsson

Icelandic journalist Kristinn Hrafnsson has taken over as editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, as Julian Assange has barely had any connection with the outside world since his internet connection at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London was turned off in March. Who is Hrafnsson and what does his appointment mean? Sputnik has collected all the important facts.

WikiLeaks Veteran

Hrafnsson, 56, has been involved with WikiLeaks for close to a decade, serving as the public face of the organization between 2010 and 2016, and becoming one of Assange's closest friends.

The journalist's association with Assange and WikiLeaks began after the organization's exposure of a major Icelandic banking scandal 2009, which eventually led to the collapse of the island nation's government. Hrafnsson faced sacking and censorship from his employers on Icelandic television for his work.

After Sweden issued an international arrest warrant for Assange over charges of sexual assault, Hrafnsson became one of the WikiLeaks founder's most tireless defenders, speaking to media outlets about the obvious "politicized" nature of the case, and Assange's "almost Kafkaesque" confinement to the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.

After resigning from the position of WikiLeaks spokesman, Hrafnsson continued to work with the organization, overseeing legal projects and speaking to Assange regularly.

Serious Journalist

Hrafnsson gained international recognition for his collaboration with WikiLeaks on its investigation into the July 12, 2007, Baghdad strikes. Footage of the attacks, received by WikiLeaks from US military intelligence whistleblower Chelsea Manning, showed US Army Apache helicopters firing indiscriminately at a group of Iraqi journalists and civilians.

Hrafnsson's investigative film "Collateral Murder, Hellfire," created together with fellow journalist Ingi Ingason, won the International Journalism and Human Rights award in May 2011. The film featured new insights into war crimes in Iraq, gleaned in part from Hrafnsson's travels to the war-torn country.

Hrafnsson is recognized as one of Iceland's top journalists and has received the country's "journalist of the year" award in 2004, 2007 and 2010 from the National Union of Journalists for his work.

'Power to the Powerless'

Hrafnsson offered Sputnik important insights on his aspirations and worldview in an in-depth interview with the news agency in 2014. Speaking about the dangers of cooperation between media corporations and states in spying on citizens, the Icelandic journalist warned that there is an imbalance when it comes to the privacy of those in power and ordinary people.

It is very strange that we live in times where the privacy of individuals is becoming practically nonexistent, but the secrecy of those in power is increasing day by day. That is something that is totally against every principle and value of society, and of course it should be reversed. We need more transparency for those in power. We need more privacy for the powerless – the individual," Hrafnsson insisted.

Back in his home country, Hrafnsson served as an advisor to the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, a legal movement which culminated in a parliamentary resolution in 2010 aimed at turning Iceland into a safe haven for free speech and freedom of information.

WikiLeaks 'Not a One Man Organization'

The implications of Hrafnsson's appointment aren't immediately clear. Hrafnsson said of his appointment: "I condemn the treatment of Julian Assange that leads to my new role, but I welcome the responsibility to secure the continuation of the important work based on WikiLeaks ideals."

In a 2010 interview with Forbes published shortly after he was appointed as WikiLeaks' spokesman, the Icelandic journalist hinted about his vision for WikiLeaks. The transparency organization, he said, should "gradually put more emphasis on the leaks than on WikiLeaks, and more emphasis on the organization than the founder." WikiLeaks, he said, was "not a one man organization," and would not be detracted from its work, whatever happens to its key figures.

Published on Jul 6, 2018 (2:32 min.)

Classified military footage released by WikiLeaks showing an attack by US military in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad. This callous attack left 12 dead including two Reuters staff. Two Iraqi children were also seriously injured.
 
October 14, 2018 - Ecuador party restores Internet Access for WikiLeaks founder Assange
Ecuador partly restores internet access for WikiLeaks founder Assange | Reuters


FILE PHOTO: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Britain, May 19, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/FIle photo

Ecuador has restored partial internet access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who took refuge in the country's London Embassy more than six years ago, WikiLeaks and an Assange lawyer said separately on Sunday.

The move comes nearly six months after the Ecuadorean government suspended Assange’s communications in March, after he discussed issues on social media that could damage the country’s diplomatic relations, including a diplomatic crisis between London and Moscow as well as Catalonian separatism.

“Ecuador rolls back @JulianAssange isolation,” WikiLeaks said in a message on Twitter. The change was also confirmed by Assange’s Australian legal adviser, Greg Barns, who called it “a welcome development.”

An Assange spokesman said his communications have been only partially restored.

Assange took refuge in Ecuador’s London Embassy after British courts ordered his extradition to Sweden to face questioning in a sexual molestation case. That case has since been dropped. But friends and supporters say Assange now fears he could be arrested and eventually extradited to the United States if he leaves the embassy. WikiLeaks, which published U.S. diplomatic and military secrets when Assange ran the operation, faces a U.S. grand jury investigation.

“The main issue, the requirement for the UK to give an undertaking that Julian would not be extradited to the U.S., remains unresolved,” Barns told Reuters.

Friends and supporters of Assange say he has had contact only with lawyers since Ecuador suspended his communications with the outside world. WikiLeaks recently announced that one of Assange’s longtime associates, Kristin Hrafnsson, had taken over from him as WikiLeaks editor in chief.

As a 2016 presidential candidate, President Donald Trump praised WikiLeaks for publishing hacked emails that embarrassed his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

But Trump administration officials have condemned Assange, while a federal grand jury continues a long-running criminal investigation of WikiLeaks and its personnel, a U.S. official recently confirmed.
 
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange must follow a set of rules to stay in the Ecuadorian embassy in the United Kingdom, which wants to arrest him for jumping bail six years ago.

15.10.2018 - Ecuador Embassy sets Rules for WikiLeaks' Assange Asylum - Reports
Ecuador Embassy Sets Rules for WikiLeaks’ Assange Asylum - Reports

The 10-page protocol, unveiled by the Codigo Vidrio website, lists conditions for the whistleblower’s stay as of last Saturday, ranging from Internet access and visits to pet keeping.

The protocol reiterates that the 47-year-old is banned from speaking about politics or interfering in affairs of other countries, which could have him expelled.

Assange is allowed to receive no more than three guests at a time, who are required to arrange their visit with the embassy at least three days in advance.

He may only access the Internet and make calls using the embassy’s Wi-Fi, the memo says. He needs to file a request to use communication devices at the mission.

Assange is also expected to pay for additional communication expenses, as well as for regular health exams, food, dry cleaning and other services, save heating, water and electricity bills.

He has also been told to feed and clean up after his cat or else the feline will be handed over to embassy staffers or placed in an animal shelter

Assange asked for asylum in 2012 after leaking sensitive US cables that exposed war crimes in Iraq. He was accused of rape in Sweden but the charge was dropped. He fears being handed over to the United States if he ventures outside.
 
October 19, 2018 - WikiLeaks' Assange sues in Ecuador for better asylum terms: Lawyer
WikiLeaks' Assange sues in Ecuador for better asylum terms: lawyer | Reuters




WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has filed a lawsuit in Ecuador against new terms of asylum in the Andean country's London embassy that require him to pay for medical bills and phone calls and clean up after his pet cat, his lawyer said on Friday.

Ecuador this month created the new protocol governing his stay at the embassy. Lawyer Baltasar Garzon told a press conference in Quito that the rules were drawn up without consulting the Australian national, who has sued Foreign Minister Jose Valencia in a Quito court to have them changed.

Assange has not had access to the internet since it was cut off in March, Garzon added, despite a WikiLeaks statement this week that it had been restored.

“He has been held in inhuman conditions for more than six years,” Garzon said. “Even people who are imprisoned have phone calls paid for by the state,” he added, describing the obligations regarding the cat as “denigrating.”

Garzon said Valencia was named in the lawsuit because he serves as the intermediary between Assange and the Ecuadorean government.

Valencia said the government “will respond in an appropriate manner.”

“The protocol is in line with international standards and Ecuadorean law,” he told reporters in the Ecuadorean city of Daule on Friday.

Assange’s stay has become an increasing annoyance for Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno, who has said the asylum cannot be eternal but has been reluctant to push him out of the embassy on concern for his human rights.

Assange believes he would be handed over to the United States to face prosecution over WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents.

Former Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa in 2012 granted Assange asylum as he sought to avoid extradition to Sweden for interrogation on alleged sexual assault crimes.

Sweden later dropped its investigation of Assange, but Britain says he will be arrested for violating the terms of his bail if he leaves the embassy.

Ecuador in 2017 gave Assange citizenship and named him to a diplomatic post in Russia, but rescinded the latter after Britain refused to give him diplomatic immunity, according to an Ecuadorean government document seen by Reuters.
 
October 23, 2018 - Exclusive: Ecuador no longer to intervene with UK for WikiLeaks Assange - Foreign Minister
Exclusive: Ecuador no longer to intervene with UK for WikiLeaks Assange - foreign minister | Reuters

Ecuador does not plan to intervene with the British government on behalf of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in talks over his situation as an asylee in the South American country’s London embassy, Ecuador’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister José Valencia said in an interview with Reuters that Ecuador’s only responsibility was looking after Assange’s wellbeing, after the Australian national sued the country over new conditions placed on his asylum in the London embassy.

“Ecuador has no responsibility to take any further steps,” Valencia said. “We are not Mr. Assange’s lawyers, nor are we representatives of the British government. This is a matter to be resolved between Assange and Great Britain.”

The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment after normal business hours.

Greg Barns, an Australian lawyer advising Assange, said in an email that “developments in the case in recent times” showed the need for Australia’s government to intervene to assist “one of its citizens who faces real danger.”

This position marks a departure from Ecuador’s previous practice of maintaining dialogue with British authorities over Assange’s situation since granting him asylum in 2012, when he took refuge in Ecuador’s London Embassy after British courts ordered his extradition to Sweden to face questioning in a sexual molestation case.

That case has since been dropped, but friends and supporters have said that Assange now fears he could be arrested and eventually extradited to the United States if he leaves the embassy.

WikiLeaks, which published U.S. diplomatic and military secrets when Assange ran the operation, faces a U.S. grand jury investigation.

Valencia said he was “frustrated” by Assange’s decision to file suit in an Ecuadorean court last week over new terms of his asylum, which required him to pay for medical bills and telephone calls and to clean up after his pet cat.

“There is no obligation in international agreements for Ecuador to pay for things like Mr. Assange’s laundry,” he said.

Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno has said that asylum is not meant to be eternal, but he has expressed concern about the possibility that Assange may be extradited to the United States. Valencia said on Tuesday that he has not discussed Assange’s situation with the United States’ government.

Last December, Ecuador granted Assange Ecuadorean citizenship and sought to name him as a member of the country’s diplomatic mission in Britain and Russia, which could have assured him safe passage to leave the embassy. Britain denied the request.
 
Although his communications may have been ‘partly restored’ in recent days, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange continues to be denigrated largely by Western governments and media – and even by his own host country, Ecuador, of which he is a citizen.

October 22, 2018 - Assange and Wikileaks Should Be Thanked – Not Smeared, Threatened or Censored
https://21stcenturywire.com/2018/10...e-thanked-not-smeared-threatened-or-censored/

1-julian-assange-wikileaks.jpg


It’s widely known that when Assange and Wikileaks began their project in 2006, and later came to international prominence with the publishing of a series of leaks from then-Bradley Manning, “western liberals and quite a few Establishment figures loved them,” writes Neil Clark.

The problem for the whistleblower organization largely began when it stayed true to its mission to ‘open ALL governments’ – including those in the West. That also posed a problem for the West, and especially for the U.S. and U.K., because the information Wikileaks released to the public has never been proven wrong.

Wikileaks has a 100% perfect record on the facts in those reports.

Further, here’s a list of past awards Assange, Wikileaks and its journalists have collectively received:

  • The Economist New Media Award (2008)
  • The Amnesty New Media Award (2009)
  • TIME Magazine Person of the Year, People’s Choice (highest global vote) (2010)
  • The Sam Adams Award for Integrity (2010)
  • The National Union of Journalists Journalist of the Year (Hrafnsson) (2011)
  • The Sydney Peace Foundation Gold Medal (2011)
  • The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism (2011)
  • The Blanquerna Award for Best Communicator (2011)
  • The Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism (2011)
  • The Voltaire Award for Free Speech (2011)
  • The International Piero Passetti Journalism Prize of the National Union of Italian Journalists (2011)
  • The Jose Couso Press Freedom Award (2011)
  • The Privacy International Hero of Privacy (2012)
  • The Global Exchange Human Rights People’s Choice Award (2013)
  • The Yoko Ono Lennon Courage Award for the Arts (2013)
  • The Brazillian Press Association Human Rights Award (2013)
  • The Kazakstan Union of Journalists Top Prize (2014)
As well as nominations for the UN Mandela Prize (2015) and nominations in six consecutive years for the Nobel Peace Prize (2010-2015)
WikiLeaks is cited in more than 28 thousands academic papers and US court filings
Source: Wikileaks.org
The level of recognition and admiration for the work of Assange and his organization is staggeringly impressive. The accolades and citations received would put most newsrooms to shame. Then why all the coordinated smears, threats and censorship?

Looking to history as a guide and likely explanation, the following commentary provides a ‘snapshot of Wikileaks’ revelations’ focusing mainly on British foreign policy in the Middle East.

Mark Curtis
Middle East Eye

The UK government is ignoring a UN ruling that determined the Wikileaks founder was being held in ‘arbitrary detention’ at the Ecuadorian embassy

Twelve years ago this month, WikiLeaks began publishing government secrets that the world public might otherwise never have known. What it has revealed about state duplicity, human rights abuses and corruption goes beyond anything published in the world’s “mainstream” media.

After over six months of being cut off from outside world, on 14 October Ecuador has partly restored Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s communications with the outside world from its London embassy where the founder has been living for over six years.

The treatment – real and threatened – meted out to Assange by the US and UK governments contrasts sharply with the service Wikileaks has done their publics in revealing the nature of elite power, as shown in the following snapshot of Wikileaks’ revelations about British foreign policy in the Middle East.

Conniving with the Saudis

Whitehall’s special relationship with Riyadh is exposed in an extraordinary cable from 2013 highlighting how Britain conducted secret vote-trading deals with Saudi Arabia to ensure both states were elected to the UN human rights council. Britain initiated the secret negotiations by asking Saudi Arabia for its support.

Cables show Miliband approved a loophole created by diplomats to allow US cluster bombs to remain on UK soil​
The Wikileaks releases also shed details on Whitehall’s fawning relationship with Washington. A 2008 cable, for example, shows then shadow foreign secretary William Hague telling the US embassy that the British “want a pro-American regime. We need it. The world needs it.”

A cable the following year shows the lengths to which Whitehall goes to defend the special relationship from public scrutiny. Just as the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq War was beginning in 2009, Whitehall promised Washington that it had “put measures in place to protect your interests”.

American influence

It is not known what this protection amounted to, but no US officials were called to give evidence to Chilcot in public. The inquiry was also refused permission to publish letters between former US President George W Bush and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair written in the run-up to the war.

Also in 2009, then prime minister Gordon Brown raised the prospect of reducing the number of British nuclear-armed Trident submarines from four to three, a policy opposed in Washington. However, Julian Miller, an official in the UK’s Cabinet Office, privately assured US officials that his government “would consult with the US regarding future developments concerning the Trident deterrent to assure there would be ‘no daylight’ between the US and UK”. The idea that British decision-making on Trident is truly independent of the US is undermined by this cable.

The Wikileaks cables are rife with examples of British government duplicity of the kind I’ve extensively come across in my own research on UK declassified files. In advance of the British-NATO bombing campaign in Libya in March 2011, for example, the British government pretended that its aim was to prevent Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s attacks on civilians and not to overthrow him.

However, Wikileaks files released in 2016 as part of its Hillary Clinton archive show William Burns, then the US deputy secretary of state, having talked with foreign secretary William Hague about a “post-Qaddafi” Libya. This was more than three weeks before military operations began. The intention was clearly to overthrow Gaddafi, and the UN resolution about protecting civilians was simply window dressing.

Deception over Diego Garcia

Another case of British duplicity concerns Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which is now a major US base for intervention in the Middle East. The UK has long fought to prevent Chagos islanders from returning to their homeland after forcibly removing them in the 1960s.

A secret 2009 cable shows that a particular ruse concocted by Whitehall to promote this was the establishment of a “marine reserve” around the islands. A senior Foreign Office official told the US that the “former inhabitants would find it difficult, if not impossible, to pursue their claim for resettlement on the islands if the entire Chagos Archipelago were a marine reserve”.

A week before the “marine reserve” proposal was made to the US in May 2009, then UK foreign secretary David Miliband was also conniving with the US, apparently to deceive the public. A cable reveals Miliband helping the US to sidestep a ban on cluster bombs and keep the weapons at US bases on UK soil, despite Britain signing the international treaty banning the weapons the previous year.

Miliband approved a loophole created by diplomats to allow US cluster bombs to remain on UK soil and was part of discussions on how the loophole would help avert a debate in parliament that could have “complicated or muddied” the issue. Critically, the same cable also revealed that the US was storing cluster munitions on ships based at Diego Garcia.

Spying on the UK

Cables show the US spying on the Foreign Office, collecting information on British ministers. Soon after the appointment of Ivan Lewis as a junior foreign minister in 2009, US officials were briefing the office of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about rumours that he was depressed and had a reputation as a bully, and on “the state of his marriage”.

Washington was also shown to have been spying on the UK mission to the UN, along with other members of the Security Council and the UN Secretary General.

The document refers to investigative journalists as “threats” alongside subversive and terrorist organisations, noting that “the ‘enemy’ is unwelcome publicity of any kind, and through any medium”​
In addition, Wikileaks cables reveal that journalists and the public are considered legitimate targets of US intelligence operations. In October 2009, Joint Services Publication 440, a 2,400-page restricted document written in 2001 by the Ministry of Defence, was leaked. Somewhat ironically, it contained instructions for the security services on how to avoid leaks of information by hackers, journalists, and foreign spies.

The document refers to investigative journalists as “threats” alongside subversive and terrorist organisations, noting that “the ‘enemy’ is unwelcome publicity of any kind, and through any medium”.

Britain’s GCHQ is also revealed to have spied on Wikileaks itself – and its readers. One classified GCHQ document from 2012 shows that GCHQ used its surveillance system to secretly collect the IP addresses of visitors to the Wikileaks site in real time, as well as the search terms that visitors used to reach the site from search engines such as Google.

Championing free media

The British government is punishing Assange for the service that Wikileaks has performed. It is ignoring a UN ruling that he is being held in “arbitrary detention” at the Ecuadorian embassy, while failing, illegally, to ensure his health needs are met. Whitehall is also refusing to offer diplomatic assurances that Assange will not be extradited to the US – the only reason he remains in the embassy.

Smear campaigns have portrayed Assange as a sexual predator or a Russian agent, often in the same media that have benefitted from covering Wikileaks’ releases.

Many journalists and activists who are perfectly aware of the fake news in some Western media outlets, and of the smear campaign against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, are ignoring or even colluding in the more vicious smearing of Assange.

More journalists need to champion the service Wikileaks performs and argue for what is at stake for a free media in the right to expose state secrets.
 
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