Assange charged

[Hawkmoon]

Apparently the U.S. government has filed charges against Julian Assange, but the charges are sealed by court order.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/16/julian-assange-charges-wikileaks-997122

I'm not even sure that's legal, but I guess a judge says it is. Catch-22: The way to show that it's not legal is to challenge it in court, but if it's a secret, you don't know it exists to be challenged.

Only a few months into Trump’s presidency, his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, said it would be a “priority” to stop leaks and arrest Assange. CNN reported in April 2017 that the U.S. was preparing charges to arrest Assange and that then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo characterized WikiLeaks as “a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia.”

I don't understand why these two items have been made out to be joined at the hip. There are laws prohibiting leaking classified information. That's what Bradley Manning was convicted under. How does that extend to a journalist printing information he/she has been provided? I understand the need for security. I operated under a security clearance for much of my time in the Army. Leaking or otherwise disclosing classified information should be punished, severely. (Hello, Mrs. Clinton.) But freedom of the press is a higher law. If the .gov doesn't want to see classified information being published, then stop it -- by stopping the leaks. Prosecuting the journalists strikes me as shooting the messenger.

[Fly320s]

And now he has been arrested by the Brits.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/ecuador-withdraws-asylum-from-julian-assange-arrested-by-uk-police

[dogmush]

What US law is an Australian living overseas even subject to?

[brimic]

Apparently the U.S. government has filed charges against Julian Assange, but the charges are sealed by court order.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/16/julian-assange-charges-wikileaks-997122

I'm not even sure that's legal, but I guess a judge says it is. Catch-22: The way to show that it's not legal is to challenge it in court, but if it's a secret, you don't know it exists to be challenged.

I don't understand why these two items have been made out to be joined at the hip. There are laws prohibiting leaking classified information. That's what Bradley Manning was convicted under. How does that extend to a journalist printing information he/she has been provided? I understand the need for security. I operated under a security clearance for much of my time in the Army. Leaking or otherwise disclosing classified information should be punished, severely. (Hello, Mrs. Clinton.) But freedom of the press is a higher law. If the .gov doesn't want to see classified information being published, then stop it -- by stopping the leaks. Prosecuting the journalists strikes me as shooting the messenger.

 [tinfoil]Possibly they want him in court, so that all of his material is put on record, especially is much of it is damning to the last several administrations.

[Perd Hapley]

Is he the consolation prize, as they've failed to indict Trump?

[brimic]

Is he the consolation prize, as they've failed to indict Trump?

If by ‘consolation prize,’ you mean evidence of criminal activity by bushes, Clintons, Obamas, then yes.

[Hawkmoon]

It appears that The Atlantic is not fans of Assange.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/julian-assange-got-what-he-deserved/587008/

[Blakenzy]

Government S**t-f***ery

Exactly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1efOs0BsE0g

[freakazoid]

The Rageaholic did a video on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLZQ_POiJks

[MillCreek]

Mr. Assange was released from a UK prison and was flown to the Northern Marianas islands where he is expected to be sentenced by a Federal judge to a 62 month sentence with credit for time served.  This equals the amount of time he spent in a UK prison.  He will then be free to return to Australia.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/24/politics/julian-assange-plea-deal-biden-administration/index.html

[Ben]

Mr. Assange was released from a UK prison and was flown to the Northern Marianas islands where he is expected to be sentenced by a Federal judge to a 62 month sentence with credit for time served.  This equals the amount of time he spent in a UK prison.  He will then be free to return to Australia.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/24/politics/julian-assange-plea-deal-biden-administration/index.html

Interesting turn of events. In the beginning, I was very much "hang the bastard". These days I'm not so sure, having seen all the banana republic things that our government has done, and wondering how much of it has not seen the light of day, and will not, unless someone else does what Assange did.

[MechAg94]

Interesting turn of events. In the beginning, I was very much "hang the bastard". These days I'm not so sure, having seen all the banana republic things that our government has done, and wondering how much of it has not seen the light of day, and will not, unless someone else does what Assange did.

On that last part, my views have gone that way as well.  Far too much crap going on in our govt.  And I figure the few people I like know about a lot more of it than we have been told which bugs me a bit.

[Angel Eyes]

At the risk of stating the obvious, take note of who is upset that Assange has been released.

[MillCreek]

I was interested to read that the Federal sentencing took place on Saipan for two reasons: it is close to Australia, where Mr. Assange was headed after the hearing ended, and he refused to set foot in the continental US over fears that the Feds would do some sort of extra-judicial rendition of him to Gitmo or something similar.

[RocketMan]

Not sure how doing the sentencing in Saipan would keep the fed.bois from doing an extra judicial rendition of Assange to Gitmo.  It's a territory of the US.  Surely they could grab him up there as easily as anywhere else.

[MechAg94]

Not sure how doing the sentencing in Saipan would keep the fed.bois from doing an extra judicial rendition of Assange to Gitmo.  It's a territory of the US.  Surely they could grab him up there as easily as anywhere else.

Yeah, his plane might mysteriously vanish and he ends up on Diego Garcia.   

[BobR]

Yeah, his plane might mysteriously vanish and he ends up on Diego Garcia.   

I can think of a few of other places that would be worse!


bob

[Northwoods]

Not sure how doing the sentencing in Saipan would keep the fed.bois from doing an extra judicial rendition of Assange to Gitmo.  It's a territory of the US.  Surely they could grab him up there as easily as anywhere else.

Probably easier than in NY.  Less press, fewer people around, etc on Saipan.

[MillCreek]

From the Washington Post article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/06/27/assange-wikileaks-deal-justice/

Discussions of a plea with Assange’s legal team had been underway since August. Assange had two nonnegotiable demands. One was that he would not set foot in the continental United States, where he was convinced he would be charged with new crimes or shipped to military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Second was that if he pleaded guilty, his sentence would not exceed time already served in London’s Belmarsh Prison.