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THE INDICTMENT OF Julian Assange... poses grave threats to press freedoms.... The charging document and accompanying extradition request... seeks to criminalize numerous activities at the core of investigative journalism.

The first crucial fact about the indictment is that its key allegation — that Assange did not merely receive classified documents from Chelsea Manning but tried to help her crack a password in order to cover her tracks — is not new. It was long known by the Obama DOJ and was explicitly part of Manning’s trial, yet the Obama DOJ — not exactly renowned for being stalwart guardians of press freedoms — concluded that it could not and should not prosecute Assange because indicting him would pose serious threats to press freedom. In sum, today’s indictment contains no new evidence or facts about Assange’s actions; all of it has been known for years.

The other key fact being widely misreported is that the indictment accuses Assange of trying to help Manning obtain access to document databases to which she had no valid access: i.e., hacking rather than journalism. But the indictment alleges no such thing. Rather, it simply accuses Assange of trying to help Manning log into the Defense Department’s computers using a different username so that she could maintain her anonymity while downloading documents in the public interest and then furnish them to WikiLeaks to publish.

In other words, the indictment seeks to criminalize what journalists are not only permitted but ethically required to do: take steps to help their sources maintain their anonymity.
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In April, 2017, Pompeo, while still CIA chief, delivered a deranged speech proclaiming that “we have to recognize that we can no longer allow Assange and his colleagues the latitude to use free speech values against us.” He punctuated his speech with this threat: “To give them the space to crush us with misappropriated secrets is a perversion of what our great Constitution stands for. It ends now.”

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LogicaL Chaos said:

Government exposure is a big no-no for the government. Which is why people like Snowden or Assange are considered Enemies of the State.

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On Monday, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia unsealed the affidavit, which is dated December 21, 2017. The document contains more details on the interactions between Assange and Manning. And, most significantly, contains the admission that the US government—as of December of 2017—had no idea whether Assange actually cracked the password. Until now, we knew that the US was aware that Assange attempted to crack a password for Manning once, but didn't know if it had more evidence of further attempts or whether it thought Assange was successful.

“Investigators have not recovered a response by Manning to Assange’s question, and there is no other evidence as to what Assange did, if anything, with respect to the password,” FBI agent Megan Brown said in the affidavit.

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Enlil said:

By your logic, police should be able to break the law to enforce the law.

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Enlil said:

What crime did Assange expose?

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JHOVA said:

see my link above on Julian and cracking the password.

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Falcon91Wolvrn03 said:

War crimes.

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JHOVA said:

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/evy4ka/us-government-doesnt-know-if-assange-cracked-password-manning

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On Monday, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia unsealed the affidavit, which is dated December 21, 2017. The document contains more details on the interactions between Assange and Manning. And, most significantly, contains the admission that the US government—as of December of 2017—had no idea whether Assange actually cracked the password. Until now, we knew that the US was aware that Assange attempted to crack a password for Manning once, but didn't know if it had more evidence of further attempts or whether it thought Assange was successful.

“Investigators have not recovered a response by Manning to Assange’s question, and there is no other evidence as to what Assange did, if anything, with respect to the password,” FBI agent Megan Brown said in the affidavit.

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Enlil said:

Falcon91Wolvrn03 said:

War crimes.

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Specifically what crime?

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JHOVA said:

you didnt read it. it states they dont have proof he even tried to crack the password. you ask for evidence and then dont read said evidence lol.

JHOVA said:

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/evy4ka/us-government-doesnt-know-if-assange-cracked-password-manning

Quote:

On Monday, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia unsealed the affidavit, which is dated December 21, 2017. The document contains more details on the interactions between Assange and Manning. And, most significantly, contains the admission that the US government—as of December of 2017—had no idea whether Assange actually cracked the password. Until now, we knew that the US was aware that Assange attempted to crack a password for Manning once, but didn't know if it had more evidence of further attempts or whether it thought Assange was successful.

“Investigators have not recovered a response by Manning to Assange’s question, and there is no other evidence as to what Assange did, if anything, with respect to the password,” FBI agent Megan Brown said in the affidavit.

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