WikiLeaks offers $20,000 for information on former DNC staffer's murder • Hacker News Board

Re: WikiLeaks offers $20,000 for information on former DNC staffer's murder

#101

Post by dmschulman » Wed, Aug 10, 2016, 2:07 PM UTC

eli wrote: post #69

Bartweiss wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The DNC isn't even a government, wasn't the whole point of WikiLeaks to hold governments and their leaders accountable? I agree that this was personally motivated, but that's a pretty laughable claim. A major political institution was attempting to manipulate an election for the US Presidency, but it's outside Wikileaks' purview because the DNC isn't technically part of the government? Vetting and bias are topics w…

You are incorrect. DNC is not state funded.

They're not federally funded, correct

Re: WikiLeaks offers $20,000 for information on former DNC staffer's murder

#102

Post by skylan_q » Wed, Aug 10, 2016, 2:08 PM UTC

imron wrote: post #77

parfe wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"Whistle-blowers go to significant efforts to get us material and often very significant risks," Assange said. "As a 27-year-old, works for the DNC, was shot in the back, murdered just a few weeks ago for unknown reasons as he was walking down the street in Washington." >When the interviewer interjected that the murder may have been a robbery, Assange pushed back. >"No," he said. "There’s no finding. So… I’m suggest…

> Assange's transparent conflation of the murder of Seth Rich with "our sources" is obvious. Exactly. It would be careless in the extreme to just accidentally out a source like this, and for all his faults, Assange is far more intelligent and careful than that.

Outing a source that's already dead and everyone who wants anyone connected to him controlled/dead?

No, I don't think there's any added risk at this point.

Re: WikiLeaks offers $20,000 for information on former DNC staffer's murder

#103

Post by dmschulman » Wed, Aug 10, 2016, 2:08 PM UTC

Jtsummers wrote: post #74

Bartweiss wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The DNC isn't even a government, wasn't the whole point of WikiLeaks to hold governments and their leaders accountable? I agree that this was personally motivated, but that's a pretty laughable claim. A major political institution was attempting to manipulate an election for the US Presidency, but it's outside Wikileaks' purview because the DNC isn't technically part of the government? Vetting and bias are topics w…

Neither the DNC, RNC, nor any other political party organization is a federal institution.

Exactly

Re: WikiLeaks offers $20,000 for information on former DNC staffer's murder

#104

Post by akhilcacharya » Wed, Aug 10, 2016, 2:08 PM UTC

dvcc wrote: post #13

patrickaljord wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it weird that all these critiques from liberals come just when Wikileaks released info that the DNC primaries were rigged. Before that, it was pretty much all praise. Now, it turns out one of their informant may have been the victim of political assassination and you focus on the fact that they released a conversation of a dad and his daughter, which is of course a blunder but still, compared to the other pote…

From my perspective, the DNC leaks really didn't show that the primaries were rigged. It basically just showed that workers within an organization are human and naturally form biases. These were not public communications from the DNC, but private conversations between individuals. Expecting them to practice full-neutrality in every conversation is a little too much to expect.

Most of the infamous emails can be summarized with a "Hey, lets do X" followed by a coded "No". There is no smoking gun whatsoever.

Re: WikiLeaks offers $20,000 for information on former DNC staffer's murder

#105

Post by oneloop » Wed, Aug 10, 2016, 2:08 PM UTC

dvcc wrote: post #2

WikiLeaks is becoming a political mess with Assange leading the charge. The philosophy that all information should be public is just absurd. There is a reason that the whistle-blowers prior passed their information to reporters, it allowed for certain pieces of information to be redacted. Sending out the name of every woman voter in Turkey does not benefit anyone. Leaking the private conversation of a man and his dau…

Wikileak's philosophy is not that all information should be public. Assange has been explicitely asked about this. The real idea is simpler, that you should know who you're voting for.

Re: WikiLeaks offers $20,000 for information on former DNC staffer's murder

#106

Post by fixermark » Wed, Aug 10, 2016, 2:10 PM UTC

eli wrote: post #69

Bartweiss wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The DNC isn't even a government, wasn't the whole point of WikiLeaks to hold governments and their leaders accountable? I agree that this was personally motivated, but that's a pretty laughable claim. A major political institution was attempting to manipulate an election for the US Presidency, but it's outside Wikileaks' purview because the DNC isn't technically part of the government? Vetting and bias are topics w…

You are incorrect. DNC is not state funded.

Actually, in several states the two-party system is baked pretty deeply into the state-level laws. Pennsylvania, for example, has a primary system where one has to declare whether one is Democrat, Republican, or Independent, and then must vote on the ballot corresponding to that declaration (with the Independent ballot holding only referendum questions and not any input into the primary process).

Those elections use the state's voting machines and vote security infrastructure. That's functionally equivalent to being state-funded, even if the funding is in terms of human-power and machine use donation and not cash.

Re: WikiLeaks offers $20,000 for information on former DNC staffer's murder

#107

Post by skylan_q » Wed, Aug 10, 2016, 2:11 PM UTC

Bartweiss wrote: post #91

eli wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there solid proof that Rich was really the victim of a failed robbery and not revenge disguised as robbery ? What would "solid proof" look like? Someone confessing? What if that person were paid off? This is the problem with conspiracy theories: they are impossible to disprove to believers. Any evidence against them just serves to prove how deep the conspiracy goes.

I think that's a bit quick to accuse someone of conspiracy theories. At the moment, Seth Rich's death consists of a nighttime shooting, no killer caught, and nothing stolen. Police are treating it as a "presumed attempted robbery". If some local criminal is found with the murder weapon and no alibi, I think that would satisfy a lot of people that it was a robbery gone wrong. Yes, there will be conspiracy theorists, b…

I think that's a bit quick to accuse someone of conspiracy theories.

"The DNC is rigged and Hillary Clinton is closely connected to many mysterious deaths." Conspiracy theorist!

leaks occur supporting the conspiracy theory

Look, the real issue here is that Assange is meddling with elections! Our corruption is our business alone! Look how he implies conspiracy theories (which we all know are never true). How reckless!!

Re: WikiLeaks offers $20,000 for information on former DNC staffer's murder

#108

Post by Someone1234 » Wed, Aug 10, 2016, 2:12 PM UTC

Very strong anti-Wikileaks vibe in this thread. But, why? Someone was murdered (irrespective of if they're a Wikileaks source or not) and Wikileaks is putting money on the table to help get it solved and bringing greater attention to it. In my book trying to help solve murders is a Good Thing™.

I have to say I am surprised, in 2016, how well the Red Scare still works in the US. You say Russia is behind something and the entire american public ignore the actual content of the leaks and talk about how evil Putin is.

Re: WikiLeaks offers $20,000 for information on former DNC staffer's murder

#109

Post by chatmasta » Wed, Aug 10, 2016, 2:13 PM UTC

Of course you'll be called a "conspiracy theorist" for speculating about this case in any way deviating from the official narrative. But the circumstances are extremely suspicious.

The DNC voter expansion data director was found shot dead, assassination style, two bullets in the back, in one of the safest neighborhoods of DC. Nothing was taken off his person. No forensic evidence was left behind. Yet the police deemed it a "robbery gone wrong." How can anyone believe this was a robbery gone wrong?

Re: WikiLeaks offers $20,000 for information on former DNC staffer's murder

#110

Post by emp_zealoth » Wed, Aug 10, 2016, 2:13 PM UTC

Jtsummers wrote: post #74

Bartweiss wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The DNC isn't even a government, wasn't the whole point of WikiLeaks to hold governments and their leaders accountable? I agree that this was personally motivated, but that's a pretty laughable claim. A major political institution was attempting to manipulate an election for the US Presidency, but it's outside Wikileaks' purview because the DNC isn't technically part of the government? Vetting and bias are topics w…

Neither the DNC, RNC, nor any other political party organization is a federal institution.

Doesn't it make it even worse? A private, oblique organisation has effective stranglehold on who gets the shot at presidency with little oversight, because "private"