Live data from Hacker News

Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment

stundin.is

161–170 of 334 posts

Re: Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like a very anti-American sentiment. You don't get to air the dirty laundry of a country trying to keep a lid on chaos because they do something you don't like now and then. I want to know that the intelligence agencies, and the military that safe guard us, are able and willing to go to any length to preserve our way of living, even if it means they overstep. Not just one country, but all Five Eyes and th…

That's a lot of words but you didn't answer the question. The CIA and FBI are not accountable to Americans. You may be a fan of, or even work for, these institutions. But they are unaccountable and authoritarian and opaque.

The interesting question to ask is to whom are they accountable.

Re: Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment

#162
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do the US need to extra judicially murder Assange in order to make an example of him? I can imagine what would happen if Russia tried the same tactic as the US and used diplomatic channels in order to successfully influence the legal systems in countries like the UK and Sweden.

Are you proud of what Assange actually did in Sweden? Taking off a condom mid sex or lying about wearing one? It's called stealthing and very much a terrible thing to do.

You just lost the discussion.

Re: Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment

#163
Well, the FBI has been revealed to be thoroughly corrupt.

You can also take it for granted that all the so-called conspiracy theories that are tagged as "misinformation" and "propaganda" by the US media "fact-checkers" will be revealed to be true within a few years. Of-course by then everyone will just shrug and move on since the public has the memory of a goldfish.

Re: Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment

#164

Is there any way to vote against the current way the FBI/CIA operates? They are straight up coercing witnesses with fake testimonies to get a man prison, whose only crime was sharing the truth about the shameful inner workings of our American government.

Not even an uncontrollable, unencumbered, outsider (Trump) critical of the FBI/CIA could make dent in 4 years.

Re: Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like a very anti-American sentiment. You don't get to air the dirty laundry of a country trying to keep a lid on chaos because they do something you don't like now and then. I want to know that the intelligence agencies, and the military that safe guard us, are able and willing to go to any length to preserve our way of living, even if it means they overstep. Not just one country, but all Five Eyes and th…

Reading this comment gave me anxiety. Liberty is unchecked authority. That's a take.

I wish I had been able to read it before it got flagged. I do want to understand the perspective.

Re: Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment

#166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a lot of words but you didn't answer the question. The CIA and FBI are not accountable to Americans. You may be a fan of, or even work for, these institutions. But they are unaccountable and authoritarian and opaque.

The interesting question to ask is to whom are they accountable.

messy web of blackmail, an mini economy where deception is currency

Re: Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment

#167
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do the US need to extra judicially murder Assange in order to make an example of him? I can imagine what would happen if Russia tried the same tactic as the US and used diplomatic channels in order to successfully influence the legal systems in countries like the UK and Sweden.

Are you proud of what Assange actually did in Sweden? Taking off a condom mid sex or lying about wearing one? It's called stealthing and very much a terrible thing to do.

Those charges magically appeared when the US wanted him on their soil, and equally magically disappeared when it looked like they had their hands on him.

Is inventing a rape charge in order to kidnap a journalist also a terrible thing to do, in your opinion?

Re: Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment

#168
post #9

For someone who has not followed Assange news for a long time, what is the general accusation of his crimes? Is it just that he published secret material that he received from other sources?

No, that’s not illegal for somebody without a clearance. The crime he’s charged with is that he was willing to (and I think did?) assist in breaking into a computer system to get the docs. I think under the CFAA. They have communication records of this because the person he was talking to was working for the USG. Had he just been accepting docs as he was initially that would have been fine. It’s hard to know the trut…

> It’s hard to know the truth here though when nation state interests are at play. To what extent were the sex related charges against him political or flared up by nation state meddling?

I think that, even in and of itself, if a nation state intelligence agency is attempting a smear campaign or outright character assassination, and the very best they can manage is "may have had sex that was consensual but unprotected without agreement"?

That's one hell of a sad state of affairs for that intelligence agency.

Like beyond "never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity", "government incompetence" cliches. Like amazingly pathetic. I can't fathom that being the line they'd go for.

"Sir, we came up with a plan to destroy his character in the public's eye!"

"Great, what is it?"

"Well, uhh, he had a bit of a threesome-like affair, and he may not have used a condom even though he said he would... we can spin that so well that everyone will disown him!"

"..."

Re: Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment

#169

Is there any way to vote against the current way the FBI/CIA operates? They are straight up coercing witnesses with fake testimonies to get a man prison, whose only crime was sharing the truth about the shameful inner workings of our American government.

Not even an uncontrollable, unencumbered, outsider (Trump) critical of the FBI/CIA could make dent in 4 years.

[deleted]

Re: Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment

#170
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a fairly charitable take on WikiLeaks. They host the entirety of the Sony leak on their site that caused me and hundreds of my colleagues to face a increased lifetime risk of fraud and stolen identity.

Hacked by North Korea and made easy by poor security on Sony's part. It sucks when personal information is stolen and published, but that genie is out of the bottle and cannot be put back.

That's still not a defense for hosting it and not censoring the data though. They're still complicit.
Post reply on HN