The Assange case

[luvdovz]

Julian Assange is mean and egocentric, there's no doubt about it. Years ago, he betrayed the trust of his British supporters. And he was suspected to be behind the publication of Hillary Clinton's private emails, which sank her campaign - which in turn destroyed the last remnants of his aura of fighter for transparency. Some of his critics believe

Comments

[oportet]

This may not be true at all - or maybe just not true for all embassy's in all countries....

Aren't there situations where a vehicle is considered sovereign territory also? I know - driving off an island may be a little tricky - but if vehicle isn't limited to 'automobile' - it opens up some options....

[johnny9fingers]

I don't see it quite like that. Though I do think that now the Swedish Authorities have dropped the case the arrest warrant should also be dropped

[oportet]

Just like the 'left' that cheered him on not too long ago, the 'right' won't hesitate to turn on him - whether he realizes it or not.

That's something that unites all of us - from every country - from every corner of the political spectrum; when we're crossed, or distracted, or get a better offer - anything goes. It isn't what have you done for me, it's not even what have you done for me lately - it's what are you doing for me right now. When his usefulness runs out, or even slows down - he's screwed. Best option is to get a bag of cash, some major facial reconstructive surgery - and disappear.

[johnny9fingers]

That may be how ordinary folk think.

Intelligence agencies like to think of folk being part of a double-entry bookkeeping situation. Assets. Debts. Credits.

He remains an asset. As do the Washington Post, Huffpo, the Times, the Guardian, the. Beeb, Fox News, le Monde, etc.

[johnny9fingers]

And obviously now the real assets are twitter, FB, and the like. And wikileaks is a meta-provider for social media, and therefore a meta-asset; at present, being used rather well by Uncle Vlad's chaps. But that's down to Julian's personal foibles, and that's fine. Because the rest of the agencies know that, and can factor it into how they release whatever rumours they need to. And where.

As of now, Julian's particular biases mean that most intel goes dripfeed direct to FB, twitter, snapchat etc. Just as the extreme right have found. He sort of shot himself in the foot.

[policraticus]

I've never been clear on what Assange could be charged with in the US.

You cannot steal documents or direct them to be stolen by others. Once they come into your hands, however, you are free to publish them, even if publishing them makes you an enormous turd. So, unless we can establish Assange is the active hacker of the various documents in question, he is free to keep being an enormous turd.

As for the sexual misconduct charges, Assange should be relieved he was being charged under Swedish law and not under the codes of many US universities, where far less boarish behavior can put a serious kink in your future. So to speak.

[mikeyxw]

Luckily for the US government, they don't really need to charge him with anything. They can just be vague and he will imprison himself at the expense of the Ecuadoran government, which is actually about the best scenario for them. To me, it simply looks like paranoia. Many others in WikiLeaks are doing just fine without such precautions. Well, I guess Sarah Harrison did flee to Berlin, which somehow puts her out of reach of the US government in ways that being in Sweden doesn't.

[johnny9fingers]

Puts Sarah out of the reach of the UK govt. I'd guess the first amendment protects her in the US.

[mikeyxw]

Naw, she's planning ahead, the Ecuadoran embassy in Berlin has a swimming pool.

[mikeyxw]

"Some of his critics believe he's Putin's toy..."

He did take a job for RT and, ironically, criticized the leak of the Panama Papers as an anti-Putin attack... for exposing the hidden bank accounts of many Putin allies. So, yeah, Putin's toy seems likely.

[johnny9fingers]

That still makes me smile, BTW. In an ironic way, obvs.