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The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

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Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#81

Post by nailer »

krapp wrote: post #20
implying wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a "credible" (read: state-approved) news organization had released those emails, would you have the same thoughts toward them?

Why would a "credible" news organization have released them? They weren't released to show evidence of any particular wrongdoing, nor did they show any illegal activity. They were simply dumped in order to fuel the fire of the impression of wrongdoing, and in hopes that some smoking gun or salacious material could be found to use against her politically.

Would you support it if the DNC had run a similar campaign supporting Clinton against Obama in 08?

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#82

Post by yholio »

midniteslayr wrote: post #5
gbumakefan wrote: post #3

Wow. Freedom of the press is dead.

I don't think Freedom of the Press is dead. WikiLeaks isn't a news organization, especially when they released campaign emails during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. They have been to be a known tool for the Russian government, even going as far as creating a show for Julian Assange on the state-backed RT TV Network.

All governments use the media, that does not mean the media should not be free. Even journalists from Russia Today should not be imprisoned for what they write, for example.

By selectively prosecuting non-violent speech, a state denies freedom to all journalists, because it asserts itself as the ultimate censor of what is acceptable to publish and what not. You get a massive dilemma: are the other, non-imprisoned journalists, the "real" journalists or are they simply afraid to say the truth because truth lands you in prison?

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#84

Post by monocasa »

krapp wrote: post #56
boomboomsubban wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The emails were newsworthy, disliking what you consider their ulterior motive doesn't change that.

What emails, specifically, were newsworthy?

The ones that caused the DNC chair to step down, showing that the DNC had subverted it's own internal processes regarding impartiality during the primary process.

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#85

Post by busterarm »

komali2 wrote: post #63
eeks wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wikileaks believed at the time that Clinton was ready to send a drone to get rid of Assange. Between due process and a drone attack, I take due process any day.

That's an obviously absurd belief given he's in an embassy. The USA has done a lot of insane shit but that would be a ridiculous line to cross to eliminate a single "criminal."

Pretty absurd. That said, the Saudi government just straight up murdered a journalist in one of their embassies, the whole world knows it and politically it appears things are still business as usual...

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#86

Post by munk-a »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #19
midniteslayr wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Freedom of the Press is dead. WikiLeaks isn't a news organization, especially when they released campaign emails during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. They have been to be a known tool for the Russian government, even going as far as creating a show for Julian Assange on the state-backed RT TV Network.

Yes, they are a news organization. Covering the election is what a news organization should do, and it's hard to argue the Clinton emails weren't newsworthy. >They have been to be a known tool for the Russian government, even going as far as creating a show for Julian Assange on the state-backed RT TV Network This is untrue. There is nothing suggesting that Wikileaks has knowingly coordinated with Russia. And that TV…

I don't believe they are a news organization, but they are something very similar that should be protected with the same freedoms. Their contributions during 2016 were highly biased but they released information that wasn't false, while it isn't wrong to call them partisan they still provided a valuable service.

If they had received the emails, discovered they were forged and then released them anyways, then I think there'd be a different story. News outlets need to provide true information, they can be opinionated if they are open about it but blatantly lying (i.e. National Enquirer) is the only thing I think is objectionable.

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#87

Post by StavrosK »

resters wrote: post #64

By doing this the US is coming to the aid of the many dictators and despots whose crimes Assange has helped reveal. Also, by ignoring the crimes revealed by the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, the US makes it very clear that war-making cronies rule both parties and would never hold each other accountable for anything. To be clear, the war logs revealed that the US classified information solely because it revealed that…

> the US is coming to the aid of the many dictators and despots whose crimes Assange has helped reveal.

I.e. themselves.

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#88

Post by elliekelly »

Karunamon wrote: post #42
elliekelly wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of the emails were altered by Russia for the purpose of spreading misinformation. Russia used Wikileaks to lend credibility to the conspiracy theories they were sowing in the run-up to the election. NY Time has a great 3-part video series about Russia's history of spreading fake news. Each video is about 15 minutes but it's well worth the watch.

This is the first I’ve heard about the released emails not being completely authentic. Do you have any more reading on this matter?

Here's the link to the video I mentioned in my original comment. I think they discuss how the metadata was altered in the second video of three but no promises I'm remembering that correctly. To be clear, I'm not saying the emails were inauthentic. I'm saying they were altered to make the source of the materials appear to be an internal leak from within the DNC as opposed to a hack. The alterations were (allegedly) for the purposes of Russia covering their trail.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/opinion/russia-meddling-d...

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#89

Post by vkou »

a10022 wrote: post #24
Apocryphon wrote: post #4

So much for WikiLeaks thinking there was a lesser evil back in 2016

Long shot: You need to be prosecuted, otherwise you cannot be pardoned.

Does this explain why US presidents give retroactive pardons for their political friends, like it was Halloween candy?

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#90

Post by monocasa »

midniteslayr wrote: post #55
CamperBob2 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which emails were doctored? I hadn't heard about that. My understanding is that the "doctoring" done by Wikileaks consisted of selectively releasing information obtained from Democratic sources while concealing similar information related to the Republican side ( https://www.wired.com/2017/01/russia-hacked-older-republican... ). If true, that's the point at which Assange and Wikileaks departed from the path of legiti…

The Russians doctored the email, for example: https://www.businessinsider.com/guccifer-2-0-dnc-document-ru... They did it to make it seem that the Clinton Campaign and the DNC had something nefarious going on

That had nothing to do with Assange or WikiLeaks.
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