"It was in [U.K. home secretary] Priti Patel’s power to do the right thing. Instead she will for ever be remembered as an accomplice of the United States in its agenda to turn investigative journalism into a criminal enterprise."
Says a statement from WikiLeaks, quoted in "Julian Assange’s extradition from UK to US approved by home secretary/Appeal likely after Priti Patel gives green light to extradition of WikiLeaks co-founder" (The Guardian).
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48 comments:
Seems unlikely that's what the UK Home Secretary will be forever known for.
"Julian did nothing wrong. He has committed no crime and is not a criminal. He is a journalist and a publisher and he is being punished for doing his job."
"It was in [U.K. home secretary] Priti Patel’s power to do the right thing. Instead she will for ever be remembered as an accomplice of the United States in its agenda to turn investigative journalism into a criminal enterprise."
IOW, just like Trump's actions as president and just like the 1/6 committee's perversion of justice.
You do not cross the Clinton Crime Family.
Why didn’t Trump pardon Assange?
I read,
Julian did nothing wrong. He has committed no crime and is not a criminal.
I think,
of course not, it must all be Yoko's fault.
Trump and Assange have the same enemies for some of the same reasons.
Bob - good question.
On a somewhat related note, I wonder if Edward Snowden is enjoying life in Russia these days. I give Assange credit for that, he didn't flee to Russia (maybe he should have?) although I've always wondered about the Ecuador connection, which, whatever it was, didn't work out as well as he probably hoped since Ecuador gave him up.
Of course if he is innocent and didn't commit a crime, he will (should) be exonerated in a court of law.
@Bob "Why didn’t Trump pardon Assange?" Because he's a coward, and Mitch McConnell told him that he would get convicted in impeachment if he did. In the end this is one of the biggest reasons I don't want him back; he spent the last months in office chasing the Kraken instead of doing his job.
Assange must be dealt with during a Democrat/pro-Clinton administration to prevent the truth from coming out. It’s no surprise at all that the UK would give him up to extradition now.
I suspect that he’ll be killed in an American prison just like Epstein was and just like they are trying to do to Maxwell. Remember, the DNC staffer who appears to have leaked the DNC files was also assassinated by Clinton operatives. If the truth came out about the DNC leak, it would be far too damaging to the Clinton legacy and might even lead to criminal investigations of the Clintons.
Assange hates us so much – let me back up before you say, Well of course he does! Can you blame him?
Before his legal nightmare, which makes his hatred for us rather understandable, he hated us so much that he was entirely willing to see Afghan nationals killed because he'd leaked their identities. He was asked about this – about the Taliban hunting down Afghans who'd sided with us – and his attitude was, to hell with 'em, they shouldn't have sided against their own people. Think about that framing.
Ten years ago I considered him an enemy agent and would have been happy to see him killed. By now I've about come around to the idea that if we want to keep secrets, that's on us. If we can't do that competently, they're going to get spread widely.
Going after this guy, for what someone was always going to do with our security failures, is wrong even if I hate him right back. Hell, especially if I do.
I suspect Saudi Arabia will start tut-tutting about US treatment of Assange whenever someone brings up Khashoggi.
It is surprising that Trump didn't pardon Assange given he is a Russian tool in its malicious campaign to undermine American Democracy. Same with Russian asset Snowden. Also somewhat surprising he didn't pardon Putin.
I've moved my opinion of Assange since he first released the info. At first I was infuriated that he would give up secrets of the US Government to the world. I was furious! No longer. I've seen too much from our Government, our DoJ, our State Department, NSA, CIA, and the various bureaucratic corners that run deep and long throughout our levels of Government. I've seen how neither the Constitution nor the American people seem to be their priority. Defending the nation seems secondary to manipulating other nations in the name of, naturally, 'our' national interests. Though these days I'm not sure who the 'our' refers to.
I've seen how those arrested for participation in J6 have run from people who actually broke a window to those who simply followed a crowd and were escorted into the Capitol by the Capitol police themselves. I've seen how actual agent provocateurs, shown on video doing their work, mysteriously were left off of the FBIs arrest lists. And most importantly, I've seen how those arrested for J6 have been left- without water to clean themselves, medical care, a choice of an hour of sunlight or a phone call to family. They are diseased, in bad health, wrecked, and in many cases had actual physical beatings.
They'd have been treated better if they had committed murder in LA, or San Francisco, Philadelphia, or Chicago. At least in those places the DAs would have got released with no bail while awaiting trial. Then a reduced sentence and back out onto the streets. But...go against the Deep State? No. They simply disappear people.
So my natural instinct- to want to believe our Government in most cases (not all, but in most), has gone well by the wayside. After lies that led to thousands of deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. After the election of 2020 and the J6 mess. After watching the arrests of Roger Stone and Peter Navarro and the non-arrests of anyone that had anything to do with murder and mayhem surrounding the BLM/Antifa summer of love, I've lost my belief that our government has anyone left who is truthful and can follow the laws as laid out.
Assange put a lot of people in danger, or even got some killed by his release of that information. But it pales in comparison to the misery, lies, deceit, death, and debasement of our country perpetrated on us by our own Government. I guess I sound like one of those the FBI should keep an eye on now. But I'm not. I'm just the typical, random guy on the street. I've been a good citizen, did my work, paid my taxes, voted, gave money to charities, and tried to help people when possible. And if, by their actions, our Government has gotten me to this point of disgust, they are so far down the wrong road, I'm not sure there's a coming back.
The UK has made a deal with those who live in the dark corners of our Government. They've made their decision to stand with the corrupt. The stink will stay with them all for a generation or more.
Assange will be Epsteined.
Do they mention that the Obama administration started this? Or that squelching the free press is part of Biden's agenda?
I'd remind everyone that there is no Bill of Rights in the UK (so ... no freedom of speech, no free press, etc.)
Secondly - the United States is currently stealing the yachts owned by people who do not live in the United States, who aren't US citizens, who never lived in the US and are never subject to US laws. They've committed no crime that the US is alleging and are not party to a war that the US is fighting. We no longer live in a country that is based on "laws" and other silly notions.
We live in a country ruled by a strongman who steals when it's in his interest to steal and kills when it's in his interest to kill. I'd remind everyone here that they literally had cameras in Jeffrey Epstein's cell. The guy before him was literally drone-murdering US citizens with zero due process. Literally murdering his own citizens. Courts let him do it.
We live in a clown country that isn't based on laws. Quit living in the past.
"Why didn’t Trump pardon Assange?"
Because Trump didn't give a shit about Assange.
The cover up must go on. Blaming this guy for the inside job to steal Podesta’s e-mails and the Arkanside of the insider who did the deed. It’s the MAFIA that rules DC. Assange is cannon fodder in the cover up.
"On a somewhat related note, I wonder if Edward Snowden is enjoying life in Russia these days. I give Assange credit for that, he didn't flee to Russia (maybe he should have?) although I've always wondered about the Ecuador connection, which, whatever it was, didn't work out as well as he probably hoped since Ecuador gave him up."
Snowden didn't "flee to Russia." His destination was Ecuador, but the US canceled Snowden's passport while he was waiting for his connecting plane from Russia to Ecuador. Snowden was left stranded in the airport, until Russian consented to let him stay in Russia.
"Of course if he is innocent and didn't commit a crime, he will (should) be exonerated in a court of law."
Hahaha! Good one, Sally 237! I don't know who you are your referring to when you say "he," but whether Assange or Snowden, neither will be exonerated in a US court.
Robert Cook:
"Snowden was left stranded in the airport, until Russian consented to let him stay in Russia."
They're real givers that way, the Russians.
"Assange hates us so much – let me back up before you say, Well of course he does! Can you blame him?"
Assange doesn't hate the US. He published secret documents from many nations. He hates state secrecy and the power this provides governments to oppress their own citizens and to interfere with other nations.
"...he hated us so much that he was entirely willing to see Afghan nationals killed because he'd leaked their identities. He was asked about this – about the Taliban hunting down Afghans who'd sided with us – and his attitude was, to hell with 'em, they shouldn't have sided against their own people."
Nonsense. Assange has never stated such an opinion. You are repeating US propaganda. Also, there is no evidence that anyone has been killed due to Wikileaks' publication of state papers.
"Do they mention that the Obama administration started this? Or that squelching the free press is part of Biden's agenda?"
Started "this"...what?
Squelching the free press is a long-time endeavor of the USA.
If we don't get our house in order, we are gonna end up like Russia or China.
Because Trump didn't give a shit about Assange.
I guess not. Or Trump was afraid in the end.
@Buckwheathikes 8:54AM
Who is that strong man? Not Biden.
Trump should have pardoned Assange. Assange crime was telling everyone what the government was really doing. Iran, Iraq, Ukraine, so many secrets, so many deals. And so many lives lost for secrets and lies.
If the USA gets Assange, it's either a show trial or a suicide in jail. or both.
"Assange crime was telling everyone what the government was really doing."
No. It is not a crime for people to publish confidential information that has been leaked to them. As long as Assange and Wikileaks were doing just that, they were fine.
However, actively participating in the leak, helping the leaker to extract the confidential information so that it may be leaked (and then published), is a crime. Once Assange became an accomplice in the leak itself, he could be charged with a crime and pursued for that reason.
traditionalguy said...
The cover up must go on. Blaming this guy for the inside job to steal Podesta’s e-mails and the Arkanside of the insider who did the deed. It’s the MAFIA that rules DC. Assange is cannon fodder in the cover up.
6/17/22, 9:18 AM
THIS^^^^^
I have changed my mind on Assange since learning that our government is totally corrupt from one end to the other. I used to trust government but that was long ago. I really got a lesson when Trump was elected. Then they drove him from office by fraud.
You are repeating US propaganda. Also, there is no evidence that anyone has been killed due to Wikileaks' publication of state papers.
I would really like to hear from that medical resident who was ordered out of GW ICU when Seth Rich was admitted.
Seems like the Pentagon Papers would inform us that what he did in fact is not illegal. He accepted stolen data for the purposes of whistleblowing. He is a journalist. I find our governments repeated persistent efforts to undermine and weaken the first amendment disgusting. The dereliction of our leaders, who swore to uphold the Constitution, is a heartbreaking feature of modern politics. How is Assange different from Woodward and Bernstein?
Robert Cook:
"You are repeating US propaganda."
Wondering if I was, I looked and I found the line that so enraged me, ten years ago. I'd just got done working with Afghans who sided with us, not because we're the US, but because we were giving them a chance to get out from under the Taliban and make something out of their country. Many had suffered terribly under those bastards and stood to be killed if they came back. One in particular was passionate about religious pluralism, sympathized with the Hazara, voted for a woman for parliament, you get the picture.
I read that Assange was told his information, released unredacted, would endanger people like this, and his response was:
"Well, they’re informants. So, if they get killed, they’ve got it coming to them. They deserve it."
(This was apparently from a book published by the Guardian.)
Maybe this is US propaganda. Or maybe he'd become so disgusted and appalled by the US war effort that this was his instant reaction, later denied, to the idea of our local allies being put in danger by him.
Either way, I'm not a fan. And I do think we probably ought to drop this matter.
I wish Trump had pardoned Assange. It's interesting who was against this...
Pity that Assange didn't just go into the National Archives and steal classified documents by putting them in his socks and down his pants and walking them outside. Because as we all know after Sandy Berger, an Assange predecessor in document theft, doing THAT is perfectly okey-dokey and results in at most a misdemeanor charge, no time served, and a small fine.
Wonder if Assange will get a deal like that?
You guys do understand that Assange is being extradited to stand trial and has not been convicted of a crime in the US?
An open trial could shine a little light on the doings of our intelligence agencies and would, by the way, clear him if, as some say, his actions are not criminal under previous SC rulings.
A pardon by Trump would have been pre-emptive and, while legal, would seem to unnecessarily elevate Assange to the level of President Nixon. Let the trial play out.
Also, Assange is an asshole so I find sympathy for him hard to come by.
Sally327 said...
Of course if he is innocent and didn't commit a crime, he will (should) be exonerated in a court of law.
Do you think he will be treated better or worse than the J6 political prisoners of the Biden Regime?
So U.S. papers (mostly on the left) can publish any leak with impunity, including state secrets, and win Pulitzer Prizes, but Assange does the same and gets death threats and potentially life in prison.
Huh...
'Why didn’t Trump pardon Assange?'
Another reason I don't want Trump to run...he didn't pardon the right people and he didn't put Hillary in prison.
But if Trump is indicted for a parking ticket in DC for 1/6 he is as good as done.
He fucked up.
“However, actively participating in the leak, helping the leaker to extract the confidential information so that it may be leaked (and then published), is a crime. Once Assange became an accomplice in the leak itself, he could be charged with a crime and pursued for that reason”
Facts not in evidence.
We had Podesta getting hacked because he never changed the default password. And we have the DNC getting hacked, most likely from the inside (likely by the late (Clintonsided) Seth Rich). That’s where Assange came in. And, Crooked Hillary ran her illegal mail server while she was Secretary of State, said server showing indicia of having been compromised at least by the Ruskies and ChiComs, at a minimum. Very possibly by the Israelis and British too. So, Trump naturally asked the Ruskies for their copy of her emails, after the FBI played dumb and asked: What are you talking about? Plenty of incriminating classified documents illegally still stored on that server years later. So, of course, her campaign, and therefore the MSM, tried to confuse things by pretending that Trump had a relationship with the Ruskies - and hence We got RussiaGate. What needs to be remembered is that he asked for the emails that were between 4 and 8 years old by then, and had nothing to do with the Podesta or DNC hacks, which had just occurred.
The place where Assange came in was that he was the recent of the hacked DNC emails. That means that he knows the source of the emails, and if not, knows who knows. As noted before, it was almost assuredly an inside job by a disgruntled DNC employee, and more likely than not from the late Seth Rich. There really wasn’t anything really illegal there, probably not even under our computer crime statutes (because he wasn’t the one exceeding their authority). It was a private individual releasing private information, from a private entity, from outside the US. Any classified information on that DNC server was there illegally. So, when the DOJ, MSM, etc posture about national security violations of one type or another, keep in mind that it is all smoke and BS. And that is going to be the problem with the case going to trial - their slights of hand, their misdirections, to protect their own incompetence and malfeasance, will have to be straightened out for a jury. Which is why I dont expect Assange to live long enough to get to trial.
Julian Assange didn't kill himself.
Trump barely knew or cared who Assange was, which is one reason I'm not a yuge fan of the guy's (even if I prefer him to the Ds and Rs he terrifies so).
Assange did nothing more than reveal that the US government and its neocon neocrusades in the Greater Middle East (and elsewhere) were ignoble fiascos, wasteful of lives and money, especially the quixotic attempt to straighten out the most backward of Allah's hillbillies.
That said, the USG is unique only by way of the size, scope, and arrogance of its imbecile projects; the various failures across countries and systems, which will only get worse, may bear out Baudrillard's idea, expressed soon after the USSR imploded under its own absurdity, that the Modern Project in all its manifestations has died. The USSR was only the first zombie empire to disappear. Others will follow.
I hope the trial is televised. I would like to see the government prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Something does not add up with Assange. He should have had caches of the information of his enemies with dead man switches that would expose all on Swiss and Ukrainian servers if he was F'ed with. He should have been as untouchable as J Edgar Hoover.
Where did he go wrong? Was he so innocent that he was stupid?
Is the Guardian a paper in the same UK that puts people in 'gaol' for stuff they say on Facebook?
Federal trials are not televised. Few federal criminal cases go to trial.
"The place where Assange came in was that he was the recent of the hacked DNC emails. That means that he knows the source of the emails, and if not, knows who knows."
Not necessarily. The way Wikileaks works is that whistle blowers can submit their documents of official wrongdoing anonymously. If some whistle blowers choose to reveal their identities to Assange or others at Wikileaks, that is their choice, but they were not required to reveal themselves.
Blogger Robert Cook said...
"The place where Assange came in was that he was the RECIPIENT of the hacked DNC emails. That means that he knows the source of the emails, and if not, knows who knows."
“Not necessarily. The way Wikileaks works is that whistle blowers can submit their documents of official wrongdoing anonymously. If some whistle blowers choose to reveal their identities to Assange or others at Wikileaks, that is their choice, but they were not required to reveal themselves.”
that really doesn’t detract fro my point - that what he did was eerily embarrassing to Crooked Hillary and the DNC. He doesn’t seem to have actually disclosed anything that could be considered a national security issue. And he didn’t steal it. He may have been merely the innocent recipient of the information. If they are going to allege any sort of conspiracy they are going to have to show, at a insurance, some working with whoever stole or otherwise acquired copies of the documents and emails. And probably some cross border illegality on his part.
"Assange put a lot of people in danger, or even got some killed by his release of that information."
All available evidence says: NOPE!
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