Last week The Duran reported that the United States is preparing charges against Julian Assange.
The Hill notes that…
U.S. officials familiar with the matter said prosecutors have found a way to move forward, after struggling to determine whether the First Amended protected Assange from prosecution.
The Justice Department’s investigation of WikiLeaks can be traced back to 2010, after thousands of U.S. government files stolen by former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning appeared on the website.
Trump’s comment about WikiLeaks was made at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last year, in reference to a leak of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails.
“I love WikiLeaks,” he said at the rally. “It’s amazing how nothing is secret today when you talk about the Internet.”
The official WikiLeaks Twitter account shared the short video clip from October of 2016…
Donald Trump, October 10, 2016: “This just came out. WikiLeaks! I love WikiLeaks!” pic.twitter.com/KWP7X2aLiN
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 21, 2017
Donald Trump, October 10, 2016: “This just came out. WikiLeaks! I love WikiLeaks!” pic.twitter.com/KWP7X2aLiN
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 21, 2017
Meanwhile, US President Trump gave a lengthy interview to AP (full transcript) where the POTUS conveniently brushed off his “WikiLove”, in support of AG Sessions’ plan to reign in Assange and Wikileaks, so that next time around Trump isn’t on the receiving end of an embarrassing document dump.
Zerohedge reports…
And, as the following exchange between the AP and Trump notes, the president does not harbor any partcularly fond feelings for the man who has been accused of being a Russian plant or spy and crushing Hillary Clinton’s election chances. That, and so much more in the following bizarre exchange:
AP: Jeff Sessions, your attorney general, is taking a tougher line suddenly on Julian Assange, saying that arresting him is a priority. You were supportive of what WikiLeaks was doing during the campaign with the release of the Clinton emails. Do you think that arresting Assange is a priority for the United States?
TRUMP: When Wikileaks came out…never heard of Wikileaks, never heard of it. When Wikileaks came out, all I was just saying is, “Well, look at all this information here, this is pretty good stuff.” You know, they tried to hack the Republican, the RNC, but we had good defenses. They didn’t have defenses, which is pretty bad management. But we had good defenses, they tried to hack both of them. They weren’t able to get through to Republicans. No, I found it very interesting when I read this stuff and I said, “Wow.” It was just a figure of speech. I said, “Well, look at this. It’s good reading.”
AP: But that didn’t mean that you supported what Assange is doing?
TRUMP: No, I don’t support or unsupport. It was just information. They shouldn’t have allowed it to get out. If they had the proper defensive devices on their internet, you know, equipment, they wouldn’t even allow the FBI. How about this — they get hacked, and the FBI goes to see them, and they won’t let the FBI see their server. But do you understand, nobody ever writes it. Why wouldn’t (former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John) Podesta and Hillary Clinton allow the FBI to see the server? They brought in another company that I hear is Ukrainian-based.
AP: CrowdStrike?
TRUMP: That’s what I heard. I heard it’s owned by a very rich Ukrainian, that’s what I heard. But they brought in another company to investigate the server. Why didn’t they allow the FBI in to investigate the server? I mean, there is so many things that nobody writes about. It’s incredible.
AP: Can I just ask you, though — do you believe it is a priority for the United States, or it should be a priority, to arrest Julian Assange?
TRUMP: I am not involved in that decision, but if Jeff Sessions wants to do it, it’s OK with me. I didn’t know about that decision, but if they want to do it, it’s OK with me.
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