Candidate Trump: ‘I Love Wikileaks.’ President Trump: ‘Arrest Assange!’

Source: Ron Paul Institute For Peace and Prosperity
Published: Apr 24, 2017
Author: Ron Paul
Post Date: 2017-04-24 13:26:14 by Deckard
Views: 1173

“I love Wikileaks,” candidate Donald Trump said on October 10th on the campaign trail. He praised the organization for reporting on the darker side of the Hillary Clinton campaign. It was information likely leaked by a whistleblower from within the Clinton campaign to Wikileaks.

Back then he praised Wikileaks for promoting transparency, but candidate Trump looks less like President Trump every day. The candidate praised whistleblowers and Wikileaks often on the campaign trail. In fact, candidate Trump loved Wikileaks so much he mentioned the organization more than 140 times in the final month of the campaign alone! Now, as President, it seems Trump wants Wikileaks founder Julian Assange sent to prison.

Last week CNN reported, citing anonymous “intelligence community” sources, that the Trump Administration’s Justice Department was seeking the arrest of Assange and had found a way to charge the Wikileaks founder for publishing classified information without charging other media outlets such as the New York Times and Washington Post for publishing the same information.

It might have been tempting to write off the CNN report as “fake news,” as is much of their reporting, but for the fact President Trump said in an interview on Friday that issuing an arrest warrant for Julian Assange would be, “OK with me.”

Trump’s condemnation of Wikileaks came just a day after his CIA Director, Michael Pompeo, attacked Wikileaks as a “hostile intelligence service.” Pompeo accused Assange of being “a fraud — a coward hiding behind a screen.”

Pompeo’s word choice was no accident. By accusing Wikileaks of being a “hostile intelligence service” rather than a publisher of information on illegal and abusive government practices leaked by whistleblowers, he signaled that the organization has no First Amendment rights. Like many in Washington, he does not understand that the First Amendment is a limitation on government rather than a granting of rights to citizens. Pompeo was declaring war on Wikileaks.

But not that long ago Pompeo also cited Wikileaks as an important source of information. In July he drew attention to the Wikileaks release of information damaging to the Clinton campaign, writing, “Need further proof that the fix was in from President Obama on down?”

There is a word for this sudden about-face on Wikileaks and the transparency it provides us into the operations of the prominent and powerful: hypocrisy.

The Trump Administration’s declaration of war on whistleblowers and Wikileaks is one of the greatest disappointments in these first 100 days. Donald Trump rode into the White House with promises that he would “drain the swamp,” meaning that he would overturn the apple carts of Washington’s vested interests. By unleashing those same vested interests on those who hold them in check – the whistleblowers and those who publish their revelations – he has turned his back on those who elected him.

Julian Assange, along with the whistleblowers who reveal to us the evil that is being done in our name, are heroes. They deserve our respect and admiration, not a prison cell. If we allow this president to declare war on those who tell the truth, we have only ourselves to blame.

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#1: Stoner    To: Deckard (#0)

I told my wife before the election I thought Trump would win handily. I also told her and stated online that before the end of his first term, he would disappoint many, many of his supporters.

Stoner posted on 2017-04-24 13:39:44   Reply   Private Reply

#2: misterwhite    To: Deckard (#0)

"but for the fact President Trump said in an interview on Friday that issuing an arrest warrant for Julian Assange would be, “OK with me.”

An arrest warrant for what?

misterwhite posted on 2017-04-24 13:43:39   Reply   Private Reply

#3: Justified    To: misterwhite, Stoner, Deckard (#2)

Last week CNN reported, citing anonymous “intelligence community” sources

Well there is your issue. Clinton National Network using Anonymous sources again. Full me once shame on you full me a million times shame on me!

Justified posted on 2017-04-24 18:24:52   Reply   Private Reply

#4: rlk    To: Deckard (#0)

The Trump administration largely has the stability of a weathervane.

rlk posted on 2017-04-24 18:43:09   Reply   Private Reply

#5: buckeroo    To: rlk, Deckard (#4)

The Trump administration largely has the stability of a weathervane.

ROTFL

buckeroo posted on 2017-04-24 20:32:30   Reply   Private Reply

#6: Gatlin    To: Deckard (#0)

Candidate Trump: ‘I Love Wikileaks.’ President Trump: ‘Arrest Assange!’

Trump did not say "arrest Assange." He said “I am not involved in that decision, but if Jeff Sessions wants to do it, it's OK with me. I didn't know about that decision, but if they want to do it, it's OK with me.” There is a difference in the headline and what Trump said.

AP: Jeff Sessions, your attorney general, is taking a tougher line suddenly on Julian Assange, saying that arresting him is a priority. You were supportive of what WikiLeaks was doing during the campaign with the release of the Clinton emails. Do you think that arresting Assange is a priority for the United States?

TRUMP: When Wikileaks came out ... never heard of Wikileaks, never heard of it. When Wikileaks came out, all I was just saying is, "Well, look at all this information here, this is pretty good stuff." You know, they tried to hack the Republican, the RNC, but we had good defenses. They didn't have defenses, which is pretty bad management. But we had good defenses, they tried to hack both of them. They weren't able to get through to Republicans. No, I found it very interesting when I read this stuff and I said, "Wow." It was just a figure of speech. I said, "Well, look at this. It's good reading."

AP: But that didn't mean that you supported what Assange is doing?

TRUMP: No, I don't support or unsupport. It was just information. They shouldn't have allowed it to get out. If they had the proper defensive devices on their internet, you know, equipment, they wouldn't even allow the FBI. How about this — they get hacked, and the FBI goes to see them, and they won't let the FBI see their server. But do you understand, nobody ever writes it. Why wouldn't (former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John) Podesta and Hillary Clinton allow the FBI to see the server? They brought in another company that I hear is Ukrainian-based.

AP: CrowdStrike?

TRUMP: That's what I heard. I heard it's owned by a very rich Ukrainian, that's what I heard. But they brought in another company to investigate the server. Why didn't they allow the FBI in to investigate the server? I mean, there is so many things that nobody writes about. It's incredible.

AP: Can I just ask you, though — do you believe it is a priority for the United States, or it should be a priority, to arrest Julian Assange?

TRUMP: I am not involved in that decision, but if Jeff Sessions wants to do it, it's OK with me. I didn't know about that decision, but if they want to do it, it's OK with me.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-23/trump-if-doj-wants-arrest-assange-its- ok-me

Gatlin posted on 2017-04-25 04:23:34   Reply   Private Reply

#7: misterwhite    To: Gatlin (#6)

Had Trump said he was against arresting Assange, the press would have had a field day.

"Your Attorney General said he favored arrest! Is there confusion in your administration? A mutiny?"

misterwhite posted on 2017-04-25 08:45:08   Reply   Private Reply