Oh wait, the article says the guy's name is Mark Stephens. But I'm still suspicious...
Posted on 12/16/2010 5:45:00 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
International man of intrigue Julian Assange barely had a moment to catch his breath from the last charges against him, but now is prepared for the US to have their crack at him. Assange tells Sky News “We have heard today from one of my US lawyers that there may be a US indictment for espionage for me coming from a secret grand jury investigation.” The fun never stops with Assange, stay tuned for more details.
Hang him first, try him later.
Australian citizen being passed secrets from an American serviceman and then released. So how is this spying or espionage? If someone here was passed secrets from France would France then charge you? I think they’re clutching at straws. Now the NYT, there’s an outfit that needs some slapping down.
Shemp Smith could hardly control his excitment about Julie being allowed to leave the jail. He wore that story out tonight.
Dog and pony show here. I am dubious about our countries ability to prosecute a foreign citizen on this. The military fag is our only solid case.
First the military man that collected the documents and provided them to Wikileaks should be tried for treason. This is an absolute.
However, I expect the media to leak anything that is truthful that is given to them. Whether it is the National Enquirer, Drudge, or the New York Times (barf!) and I don't consider the media publishing information as treason.
If Wikileaks is tried for treason, then the “Government” had better try for treason all the other “traditional media” and websites that have posted links to Wikileaks and/or summarized any of the cables that were part of the original tratorous act.
If the government doesn't do that, then they are going after Assange because they view him and his website as encouraging people to leak information, which I feel is stiferling “legitimate whistleblowers” who are not leaking classified information but information that powerful people or companies don't want distributed.
Again, the obtaining and turning over to a “media outlet” classified information is treason. A “media outlet” publishing information that is truthful and has been leaked to it, is a slippery slope against freedom of the press and a potential step in big brother censoring everything from what Monica Lewinski was doing in the Oval Office to what the Watergate burglars were doing.
That’s a tough case to prosecute.
What nation was he committing espionage for?
If they wanted to be consistent, they’d first indict the New York Times, The Washington Post and scale model manufacturers that somehow obtain plans of top secret aircraft and ships before anybody has even heard of them, never mind seen them.
In the same way that any foreign agency commits espionage by coercing citizens to give up secrets.
Behind every Aldrich Ames (for example) is a foreign agent who pays for or threatens to get the secrets and use them against our country.
Assange isn't just some innocent guy who has a website, he is a very famous hacker who goes by the handle Mendax. He had a history of breaking into the NSA in the 90s- a book was written about him and he had a mention in the movie Hackers 2. It is often asked how Manning was able to get the secrets he did- I have no doubt that he was just a conduit for Assange's hacking.
Ping 10 for information- don’t think for a second Assange is some innocent ‘journalist’.
Ping 10 for information- don’t think for a second Assange is some innocent ‘journalist’.
He’ll be brought before some Carter/Clinton/Obama appointee, it will turn in to a circus with the liberal media walking around lecturing us all about what “Freedom of the Press” is and isn’t, finally Assange will be found not guilty and get invited to a Hollywood party with a who’s who liberal morons.
Some other hackers including the Jester have speculated that Assange created WikiLeaks as a way to use the information he got from hacking in order to blackmail those he stole the information from. He may have been spying for himself, or maybe, working for someone like Soros as some have speculated. I think the blackmail idea has credibility although in his early emails and writings, it may just be ideological. His parents were communists and he has written often about wanting to take down the US.
Dog and pony show here. I am dubious about our countries ability to prosecute a foreign citizen on this.
This PFC Manning is not the only one involved on the US side
“Hang him first, try him later.”
Give him the medal of honor and have him release the rest of what he has!!!
Publication of secret government documents is absolutely legal. 1st amendment protects all publishers from the New York Times to this fellow. Espionage is an ambiguous joke that died at the Ellsburg trial. It is totally over. Move on.
This is not “spying?” Assange merely helped make public documents public available to the taxpayers that funded them. Every journalist and talk show, including Hannity and Beck, who have quoted these documents are just as guilty as he is (though less honest). Without Assange, this dirt would be hidden for decades.
What century are you from?
These aren’t top secret documents. They are embassy cables on a much lower level of classification. Documents like these are opportunistic quoted and leaked all the time by the favored elites in the MSM and “public notables” who have served, and are serving, in government. The only difference is that Assange is making these documents, such as those further implicating the federal government in climategate, to the taxpayers who funded them on a much less selective scale. In this, he is performing a great service.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.