Trump Admin. Begins Paving the Way for WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange to Go Free

[Swordsmyth]

The Trump administration has laid the groundwork for clearing the biggest obstacle keeping WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (shown) from leaving the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Assange has been in exile there since August 2012 and has feared leaving, since the U.S. government has considered him a criminal suspect for his role in publishing classified documents detailing sometimes criminal actions by U.S. federal departments and agents.
In a tweet last week, WikiLeaks pointed out that the U.S. government has “decided to close its eight year long grand jury proceedings against @WikiLeaks (expanded in 2017 to cover our series on the CIA).” The WikiLeaks tweet (https://twitter.com/StateDept/status/948284718419656704) was a reference to a statement made by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert during a press conference on January 2. Speaking about Iran, Nauert said, “We support a freedom of the press. When a nation clamps down on social media, we ask the question, ‘What are you afraid of?’ What are you afraid of? We support the people of Iran, and we support their voices being heard.”

After the press conference, the official Department of State Twitter account tweeted Nauert’s quote. WkiLeaks retweeted it and drew the inference that the message — while directed at the government of Iran — was applicable to a shift in the policy of the United States as a result of the election of Donald Trump and that that shift was the reason why the eight-year-long grand jury proceedings have been closed.
Even more promising to Assange’s plight is the fact that President Trump’s lawyers have filed a motion (http://www.kingpin.cc/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/dcd-1.17-cv-01370-42-0.pdf) with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia arguing that Assange’s publication of the DNC and John Podesta e-mails was protected by the First Amendment even if the e-mails were stolen.
While that motion is specifically geared toward Assange’s publication of the DNC and Podesta e-mails, it recognizes WikiLeaks as a valid media organization protected by the First Amendment. WikiLeaks has not always been seen in that light by the powers-that-be in the U.S. government.

More at: https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/27936-trump-admin-begins-paving-the-way-for-wikileaks-julian-assange-to-go-free

[Zippyjuan]

Today on Russia Today (RT):

https://www.rt.com/usa/415549-assange-trump-crackdown-whistleblowers/


‘Trump intensified war on whistleblowers, wants Assange’s head on a platter’ – ex-CIA officer to RT

Donald Trump has not only continued his predecessor’s crackdown on whistleblowers, but ramped up the effort, John Kiriakou told RT. He said Julian Assange should sit tight unless he wants to end up in a US jail.

Hopes that WikiLeaks co-founder Assange will be able to walk free from the Ecuadorian embassy after five years of effective imprisonment have reemerged amid reports he has been granted an ID card, and potentially citizenship, by the Latin American country on Wednesday.

However, the UK Foreign Office rejected the request by the Ecuadorian government to grant the Australian diplomatic status, meaning he would not be immune from prosecution if he leaves the embassy, British media report, citing a Foreign Office spokesman.

Kiriakou, a former CIA analyst turned whistleblower, told RT the UK government has likely been under “great pressure” from Washington to make sure Assange is snatched the moment he steps outside the embassy and is eventually extradited to the US.

“It’s a worst kept secret in Washington that Julian is likely slated to begin working his way through the US judicial process if he ever leaves the embassy. And I think the Americans told the British under no terms should Julian leave the embassy on his own free will,” Kiriakou said.

Pointing out that the UK’s official reasoning for arresting Assange, namely for breaching his bail conditions by seeking asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy, is “very weak,” Kiriakou argued that “nobody in the British Foreign Office would care if his name was not Julian Assange.”

The refusal of the UK government to let Assange go after the initial sex assault investigation by Sweden was dropped indicates the UK has been doing the job for the US.

“The British are quietly and secretly working with the Americans to make sure Julian is arrested and send to the United States for trial which I think is a travesty,” Kiriakou said. Judging by Trump’s first year in office, he has been following into the footsteps of Barack Obama in his crusade against whistleblowers, he added.

NSA whistleblower Reality Leigh Winner, who was denied bail and has been held in jail in Georgia since June for leaking a classified report into alleged Russian meddling in the US elections, is just one example of the Trump administration tightening its grip over the issue, Kiriakou said.

“Even Barack Obama didn’t ask that any of us be held without bail, so I think that this is really a continuation of a very dangerous and a wrong-headed policy to target whistleblowers.”

“Julian is one of the biggest international whistleblowers and I think that they want his head on a platter,” he said.

Under the current US administration and UK authorities keen to do Washington’s bidding, there is little chance Assange can leave the embassy and be secure, Kiriakou argued.

“Julian has to try to be as patient as possible. The Ecuadorian government has to be even more patient than Julian and hope that there’s a change in government either in the UK or in the US that’ll allow him to just leave the embassy and go to the airport and fly to Ecuador.”

[Swordsmyth]

Today on Russia Today (RT):

https://www.rt.com/usa/415549-assange-trump-crackdown-whistleblowers/

There is no such thing as an EX-cia officer or a reliable cia source.

[Zippyjuan]

Assange an Equadorian Citizen now? https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/10/julian-assanges-bid-for-diplomatic-status-rejected-by-uk-government


Julian Assange’s bid for diplomatic status rejected by Britain

The Foreign Office has turned down a request from the Ecuadorian government to grant the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, diplomatic status as a means of breaking the stalemate over his continued presence in the UK.

The development comes amid reports that Assange – an Australian who has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy for more than five years – has recently become a citizen of the South American state.

If awarded the status of a diplomat, it is thought, Assange could obtain certain rights to legal immunity and might be able to leave the embassy in Knightsbridge, and eventually the UK, without being arrested for breaching his former bail conditions.

Swedish prosecutors last year unexpectedly dropped their investigation into allegations against him, which included a claim of rape. He had been resisting extradition to Stockholm for years.

Assange still faces arrest for breaching bail conditions if he steps outside the embassy. WikiLeaks has voiced fears that the US will seek his extradition if he leaves the embassy. It is rumoured that there is a sealed US indictment ordering his arrest.

An FCO spokesperson, confirming the latest attempt to resolve the impasse, said on Wednesday night: “The government of Ecuador recently requested diplomatic status for Mr Assange here in the UK. The UK did not grant that request, nor are we in talks with Ecuador on this matter. Ecuador knows that the way to resolve this issue is for Julian Assange to leave the embassy to face justice.”

At the same time Assange appeared on his Twitter account for the first time wearing an Ecuadorian national football shirt.

There were reports in newspapers in Quito that he had recently been granted a national identity number. On Wednesday, the Reuters news agency reported it had found an entry for “Julian Paul Assange” in Ecuador’s Civil Registry, which only includes Ecuadorian citizens.

Assange had said he would leave the embassy if Obama pardoned Bradley Manning. After Obama commuted Manning's sentence, Assange didn't follow through.

[goldenequity]

http://media.riffsy.com/images/4252eb31b96c22e560611423c22e5a81/tenor.gif

[Swordsmyth]

Assange an Equadorian Citizen now? https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/10/julian-assanges-bid-for-diplomatic-status-rejected-by-uk-government



Assange had said he would leave the embassy if Obama pardoned Bradley Manning. After Obama commuted Manning's sentence, Assange didn't follow through.

Two different things.

[angelatc]

Assange had said he would leave the embassy if Obama pardoned Bradley Manning. After Obama commuted Manning's sentence, Assange didn't follow through.

Read what you just wrote, and let it sink in.

[Danke]

Read what you just wrote, and let it sink in.

Did Obama commute Bradley or Chelsea Elizabeth Manning?

[AZJoe]

Assange an Equadorian Citizen now? https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/10/julian-assanges-bid-for-diplomatic-status-rejected-by-uk-government

Assange had said he would leave the embassy if Obama pardoned Bradley Manning. After Obama commuted Manning's sentence, Assange didn't follow through.

A. What does this have to do with the OP that the grand jury proceedings are closing?

B. Obama never pardoned Manning.

[Zippyjuan]

A. What does this have to do with the OP that the grand jury proceedings are closing?

B. Obama never pardoned Manning.

The only source I can find to support the claim that the grand jury investigation has closed seems to trace back to InfoWars- not usually that reliable.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5237823/Report-Trump-clearing-way-Julian-Assange-return-US.html


WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may be able to return to the US without fear of arrest, according to a new report.

The article by InfoWars cites a WikiLeaks retweet which reads: 'US government on why it has decided to close its eight year long grand jury proceedings against @WikiLeaks (expanded in 2017 to cover our series on the CIA).

[sparebulb]

The only source I can find to support the claim that the grand jury investigation has closed seems to trace back to InfoWars- not usually that reliable.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5237823/Report-Trump-clearing-way-Julian-Assange-return-US.html

I suppose that you cite CNN so much because of their "reliability".

[Swordsmyth]

The only source I can find to support the claim that the grand jury investigation has closed seems to trace back to InfoWars- not usually that reliable.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5237823/Report-Trump-clearing-way-Julian-Assange-return-US.html

How about the OP article?
Or the WikiLeaks tweet it refers to?