Donald Trump on US charging Julian Assange: 'It's OK with me'

You are totally missing the point. It has nothing to do with globalism or one-worldism. It has to do with the US pursuing its sovereign interests in defense of this country. We will pursue those who threaten and attack us no matter where they are. OBL was in the middle of Afghanistan.

Also, if Assange is arrested then why are not our journalists around the world not subject to arrest by other countries if they report on what their governments are up to?

Apples to oranges. Assange had a major impact on our national security interests. He did more than report on what our government was up to. He divulged our sources and methods to enemy intelligence services and put the lives of our allies and even our own people at risk.

The disclosures “equip our adversaries with tools and information to do us harm,” said Ryan Trapani, a spokesman for the C.I.A. There was, he added, a “massive, massive difference” between the leak of classified C.I.A. cyberspying tools and personal emails of political figures.

Assange may or may not have placed people’s lives at risk. But so does anyone who reports any information that is deemed so sensitive by a third party. It has to go all the way. It’s not just about him.

What sophistry. He did place lives at risk with that information and could cause us all future harm given the leak of the tools we use to penetrate the defenses of our adversaries. Don't you get it? This is very serious yet you seem to have no basic understanding of what is at stake. Maybe my 36 years of experience in that arena gives me unique insights, but anyone with common sense can understand how significant and serious this is. Giving Assange a pass because he leaked documents from the DNC and Podesta is dangerous. It ignores the damage he has done to the security of this country in other areas.

You did it again. You assigned motives to me I do not have.
I am not giving Assange a pass because he leaked DNC and Podesta. In fact I have repeatedly said that this is not really about Assange at all for me (which you repeatedly ignore).

For me it is about a larger principal, which is, if we can apply our laws to non-citizens then basically we are making everyone in the world de-facto citizens of the USA. That is a 2 way street. This gives power and impetus to the one-world government types.

You did it again. You assigned motives to me I do not have. I am not giving Assange a pass because he leaked DNC and Podesta. In fact I have repeatedly said that this is not really about Assange at all for me (which you repeatedly ignore).

But it is about Assange. It is in the title of the thread. Do you think he should be prosecuted? Did he do anything wrong?

For me it is about a larger principal, which is, if we can apply our laws to non-citizens then basically we are making everyone in the world de-facto citizens of the USA. That is a 2 way street. This gives power and impetus to the one-world government types.

That is nonsense. How do you come to that principle (not principal)? I provided you with the legal basis behind Extraterritorial Application of American Criminal Law. We are not making everyone "de-facto citizens of the USA. How do you come to that conclusion?

Although the crimes over which the United States has extraterritorial jurisdiction may be many, so are the obstacles to their enforcement. For both practical and diplomatic reasons, criminal investigations within another country require the acquiescence, consent, or preferably the assistance, of the authorities of the host country. The United States has mutual legal assistance treaties with several countries designed to formalize such cooperative law enforcement assistance. It has agreements for the same purpose in many other instances.

Cooperation, however, may introduce new obstacles. Searches and interrogations carried out jointly with foreign officials, certainly if they involve Americans, must be conducted within the confines of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. And the Sixth Amendment imposes limits upon the use in American criminal trials of depositions taken abroad.

If a foreign national overseas is violating our banking laws or hacking our companies or government, why shouldn't we be able to have that person extradited to the US to stand trial for violating our laws and harming our people? And it is done on a reciprocal basis depending upon the country. What about these two cases:

Viktor Bout Extradited to the United States to Stand Trial on Terrorism Charges

Accused Member of Foreign Terrorist Organization Extradited to United States on Hostage Taking Charges

If Afghanistan had turned over OBL, we probably wouldn't have gone there.

Does the American people have the right to know it’s govt is spying on them? Does the American people have the right to know about the corruption of the Clinton’s, the DNC, the corruption in govt including US Intel agencies?

I can think of lots of people in govt that need to be locked up but not Assange.

Trump would have been smart to leave Assange alone, neither going after him nor pardoning him. This will hurt Trump with voters.

Roman Polanski!.. and how many times did we ask France or was it Switzerland ?

Extradition is a political act as well as legal. It’s not automatic not even with “friendly countries”! I can very easily see Bolivia (or another country!) say, “So you couldn’t keep your secrets safe! That’s your problem not mine!”

I am not in any way implying Assange is on “our side” !
He is a nihilistic anarchist who with the release of the Podesta, DNC docs, etc has aligned with us more by accident then anything else. It won’t last! His “deal” with Manning is a good example of him being actively against us. However making the case to another country that they have to extradite him because we lost “our secrets” is not a strong case to make. Bolivia could say, “Look who you allowed access to them ‘ a guy so crazy he thinks he is a girl! They must not be all that important to you!’ “

Whatever.

I believe ,based on historical records,our American government under Jackson grossly broke faith and treaty with the Cherokee Nation ,and probably a few others. I believe the American Civil War was a huge unnecessary waste of blood and treasure and Northern politicians and factory owners were the ones who lit the fuse with tariffs. I believe the Spanish-American War without justification but promoted for financial gain.I believe the U.S.of A. should have avoided WW 1.

The American Revolution and War of 1812 were unavoidable given English arrogance.Incidentally I also condemn England for the Boer War which was nothing more a land theft with murder.

Given the facts of Nazi Germany and Japan vicious,inhumane policies and sneak attacks ,war was eminently justifiable and the U.S.of A. probably should have done so sooner.Sadly the good nations found it necessary to ally with a vicious dictatorship of Communists that persisted long after. And that Russian Communist dictatorship came about out of a desperate ploy by the Germans in WW1 to offset America adding to Allied strength by taking Russia out of the conflict.

America had no choice but to fight in 1950 Korea.

Vietnam was likely unnecessary,and certainly cost enormous treasure and 55,000 good men for murky goals.

The destruction of several harsh Middle East strongman dictatorships has resulted in a hugely increased instability,LESS religious freedom,hundreds of thousands of deaths,and TRILLIONS of dollars more American debt.

Don’t tell me I don’t value American lives.I object to those lives being wasted ,even,no especially when the only observable result is enrichment of purveyors of military goods.

Polanski is not a terrorist. Of course extradition can be political and it can be based on reciprocity. Assange knows that if he goes to Sweden, it is a distinct possibility that he will be extradited to the US even if he is proven innocent of his alleged crime in Sweden. And it is why he is a virtual prisoner in the UK.

However making the case to another country that they have to extradite him because we lost “our secrets” is not a strong case to make.

The United States has mutual legal assistance treaties with several countries designed to formalize such cooperative law enforcement assistance. Assange has to be charged formally with a crime.

Meanwhile Hillary Clinton is as free as a bird.

We shall see!

Not necessarily. Sooner or later, the United States will name the correct monetary sum to get Ecuador to kick him out.

Well said.

The case probably won’t make it to the Supreme Court. The case probably won’t make it to trial. When they bring him back, he will probably commit suicide in his cell.