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☆ WikiLeaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning says censorship is still 'a dominant threat'
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-14 | by ( Sam Meredith | In Samuelmeredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning says censorship is still "a dominant threat," advocating for a more decentralized internet to help better protect individuals online. Her comments come amid ongoing tension linked to online safety rules, with some tech executives recently seeking to push back over content moderation concerns. "Censorship is a dominant threat. "I think that social media and the monopolies of social media have sort of gotten us used to the fact that certain things that drive engagement will be attractive," she added. "One of the ways that we can sort of countervail that is to go back to the more decentralized and distribute the internet of the early '90s, but make that available to more people."

Persons: Chelsea Manning, Karen Tso, Manning Organizations: U.S . Army, Summit Locations: Lisbon, Portugal

Hezbollah has also been accused of obstructing the election of a new president, leaving Lebanon leaderless for the past two years. A pro-Iranian Hezbollah supporter holds up a poster of assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, on Thursday. While some Lebanese believe Hezbollah hijacked Lebanon’s political system, it also held it up. Lebanon has already suffered a year of lower-level fighting between Israel and Hezbollah along its southern border. But Lebanese political leaders are still relishing Hezbollah’s decline, he said, even some among the group’s Shia Muslim co-religionists.

Persons: Hassan Nasrallah, ” Fouad Siniora, ”, Rafik Hariri, Marwan Naamani, Sarah Zaaimi, Firas Maksad, “, ” Maksad, Nabih Berri, Jeffrey Feltman, Berri, Israel –, ” Ibrahim Moussawi, —, Siniora Organizations: NBC News, United, Getty, Hezbollah, Hariri, & Middle, Middle East Institute, WikiLeaks, Security, Keystone, —, The Washington Institute Locations: BEIRUT, Lebanon, Israel, Beirut, Iran, United Nations, Lebanese, Syria, AFP, Washington, U.S, Paris, Tehran, Riyadh, Jerusalem, “

☆ Julian Assange says he pleaded ‘guilty to journalism’ to secure his freedom in first public remarks since leaving prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-01 | by ( Lauren Said-Moorhouse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

“I want to be totally clear: I am not free today because the system worked,” Assange told lawmakers. “I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism.”Assange was released in June after agreeing to plead guilty to a single felony charge in exchange for time served. The deal was finalized in a remote US court in the Pacific before he flew on to his native Australia. Before his deal with the US Justice Department, the Australian had been facing 18 criminal charges related to his organization’s dissemination of classified material and diplomatic cables, and a 175-year jail sentence. Assange, accompanied by his wife Stella and WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, appeared calm and at ease during his roughly 20-minute statement on Tuesday.

Persons: Julian Assange, “, ” Assange, Assange, Stella, Kristinn Hrafnsson Organizations: CNN, of Europe, Ecuadorian, US Justice Department, WikiLeaks Locations: United States, Strasbourg, Australia

CNN —US federal prosecutors on Friday unsealed criminal charges against three Iranian government-linked hackers in connection with a hacking operation aimed at Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri and Yasar (Yaser) Balaghi are accused of aggravated identity theft and wire fraud for their hacking efforts on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Separately, the US Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on seven people as part of a sweeping response to Iranian efforts “to influence or interfere” in the 2020 and 2024 US presidential elections. The alleged Iranian hack threw a twist in the presidential campaign in August when multiple news outlets reported receiving emails from a pseudonymous email account peddling documents stolen from the Trump campaign. The hacking operation began in June, when the alleged IRGC-linked hackers targeted longtime Trump ally Roger Stone and used access to his email account to target campaign staff.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Trump, Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, Balaghi, “, JD Vance —, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris ’, Roger Stone, Harris Organizations: CNN, Court, District of Columbia, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, US Treasury Department, Trump, Biden, FBI, The, Department, Washington Post, Fox Locations: Russia, China, Iran, Russian, Ukraine

In mid-December 2005, back when U.S.-Russia relations remained on relatively friendly terms, a new media channel called Russia Today began broadcasting English-language news. “It’s a very good start,” Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying of Russia Today at the time. In subsequent years, Russia Today would rebrand to RT, expand into other languages, and even open a studio in Washington, D.C. in 2010. The Tennessee company was not named in the indictment but appears to be Tenet Media, according to a review by NBC News of details included in the indictment. Instead of shuttering, the state media organization found alternate ways to distribute content, including a social media bot farm, the DOJ said in a July news release outlining its efforts to remove the content.

Persons: “, Vladimir Putin, Russia wasn’t, Margarita Simonyan, Elena Mikhaylovna Afanasyeva, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, Melanie Smith, We’ve, there’s, ” Smith, ”, Eduard Grigoriann, Lauren Southern, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Darren Linvill, ” Linvill, ” Simonyan Organizations: Russia Today, RIA, U.S, Institute for Strategic, NBC News, Kremlin, RT, Government, Tenet Media, NBC, YouTube, Justice Department, WikiLeaks, RT America, DirecTV, DOJ, Clemson University’s, Espanol Locations: Russia, RIA Novosti, Washington ,, U.S, Europe, Tennessee, London, Ukraine, America

The campaign began earlier this year and stopped before President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race last month, a Meta spokesperson said. The WhatsApp accounts claimed to be tech support for companies like AOL, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, according to a Meta blog post. The same WhatsApp campaign also targeted users in Iran, Israel, Palestine and the United Kingdom, Meta said. However, the company would not necessarily know if a victim fell for the WhatsApp messages and gave the hackers valuable information that enabled access to their account. It’s unclear whether or how more of the hacked Trump files will surface before Election Day.

Persons: Biden, Meta, Joe Biden, ”, Donald Trump’s, Harris, Iran’s, Trump, The New York Times —, Hillary Clinton Organizations: Trump, AOL, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, United Nations, NBC, Companies, Politico, The Washington Post, The New York Times, WikiLeaks Locations: U.S, Iran, Utah, Israel, Palestine, United Kingdom

☆ News outlets were sent leaked Trump campaign files. They chose not to publish them
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-13 | by ( Jon Passantino | Liam Reilly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The dossier included what the Trump campaign identified as Vance’s potential vulnerabilities. Instead, the first public sign of any release of private information came Saturday, when the Trump campaign went public with its announcement that it had been hacked, pointing the finger at Iranian operatives. “These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said. As long as they’re verified and newsworthy, then they’re fair game, but motive is an important part of the story, too,” Dan Kennedy, a journalism professor at Northeastern University, told CNN. The role of the media is to act independently in this situation,” Kirtley told CNN.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Robert, ”, Donald Trump’s, Ohio Sen, JD Vance, Trump, Florida Sen, Marco Rubio, Vance, they’d, ” “, Brad Dayspring, ” Trump, Steven Cheung, Roger Stone, Hillary Clinton’s, newsrooms, Hunter, “ I’ve, it’s, Clinton, rallygoers, Julian Assange, ” Dan Kennedy, ” Jane Kirtley, ” Kirtley, Neera, Biden, Robert ”, Matt Murray Organizations: CNN, Politico, The New York Times, Washington Post, AOL, Trump, GOP, Times, Post, Democratic, FBI, Republican, Iranian, Microsoft, Democratic National Committee, Wikileaks, New York Times, Univision, WikiLeaks, “, Northeastern University, Democratic National, University of Minnesota, ” Washington Post Locations: Florida, United States, Iran, Tehran, Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq

The FBI said Monday afternoon that it is investigating what the Trump campaign has characterized as a successful effort to hack into its campaign and steal private documents. A Trump campaign spokesperson said Saturday that it had been hacked in June. The claim from the Trump campaign adds to what had already been a deeply antagonistic relationship between Iran and the former president. The apparent hack of Trump campaign files echoes the 2016 Russian campaign against Hillary Clinton, but so far seems notably less elaborate in distributing the hacked files. There is no apparent similar distribution system for the hacked Trump files, at least so far.

Persons: Trump, Hillary, Hillary Clinton’s, Donald Trump, Chris Krebs, SentinelOne, ”, Krebs, Qassem Soleimani, Adam Schiff, ” Schiff, Schiff, Hillary Clinton, Simin Kargar Organizations: FBI, Politico, The Washington Post, The New York Times, NBC News, Microsoft, United Nations, Democratic National Committee, U.S, Republican, Infrastructure Security Agency, Biden, Iran’s, Former U.S, Rep, House Intelligence Committee, Intelligence, Democratic, Trump, WikiLeaks, Atlantic, Forensic Research Locations: Russia, China, Iran, Tehran, U.S, Romanian

☆ Trump campaign says it has been hacked
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-10 | by ( Kate Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Former President Donald Trump’s campaign said Saturday in a statement that it had been hacked. When asked whether the Trump campaign had been in contact with law enforcement, a campaign official said it would not discuss those kinds of conversations. Politico reported it had received emails that contained internal communications from a senior Trump campaign official and a research dossier the campaign had put together on Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The dossier included what the Trump campaign identified as Vance’s potential vulnerabilities. In 2016, days before the Democratic National Convention, WikiLeaks published nearly 20,000 emails from the Democratic National Committee server.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, ” Trump, Steven Cheung, Cheung, “, Trump’s, Trump, Butler, ” Cheung, ”, it’s, Harris, Ohio Sen, JD Vance, Florida Sen, Marco Rubio, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Hillary Clinton, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Wasserman Schultz, Clinton, Kevin Liptak Organizations: CNN, Politico, Democratic, Microsoft, Iranian, U.S, United Nations, FBI, Justice Department, Secret, Biden, Harris Administration, National Security, Trump, White, GOP, Democratic National Convention, WikiLeaks, Democratic National Committee Locations: United States, Iran, Florida, Russia

☆ A Wish From All Sides to Move On Ends With Liberty for Assange
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As negotiations to end the long legal brawl between Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, and the United States reached a critical point this spring, prosecutors presented his lawyers with a choice so madcap that a person involved thought it sounded like a line from a Monty Python movie. His path to freedom, he was told, would pass through one of the two American-held islands in the blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Mr. Assange, who feared being imprisoned for the rest of his life in the United States, had long insisted on one condition for any plea deal: that he never set foot in the country. The U.S. government, in turn, had demanded that Mr. Assange plead guilty to a felony for violating the Espionage Act, which required him to appear before a federal judge. In April, a lawyer with the Justice Department’s national security division broke the impasse with a sly workaround: How about an American courtroom that wasn’t actually inside mainland America?

Persons: Julian Assange, Monty, Assange Organizations: WikiLeaks, Justice Department’s Locations: United, Guam, Saipan, United States, U.S, America

☆ The New York Times News Quiz, June 27, 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-28 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was released from prison this week. He had been under confinement since 2012, when he sought asylum in which country’s embassy in London?

Persons: Julian Assange Organizations: WikiLeaks Locations: country’s, London

“Julian plans to swim in the ocean every day. He plans to sleep in a real bed, he plans to taste real food, and he plans to enjoy his freedom.”Stella Assange wed the WikiLeaks founder while he was incarcerated at London’s Belmarsh prison in 2022 and they have two children together. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange kisses his wife, Stella Assange, as he arrives in Canberra, Australia, June 26, 2024. “But they were very excited when they found out that daddy was coming home,” Stella Assange said. Stella Assange, wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, speaks as lawyers Barry Pollack and Jennifer Robinson look on during a press conference at East Hotel in Canberra, Australia on June 26, 2024.

Persons: Julian Assange, Stella Assange, ”, “ Julian, ” Stella Assange, Edgar Su, Assange, “, Barry Pollack, Jennifer Robinson, Lisa Maree Williams Organizations: CNN, WikiLeaks, Justice Department, East Hotel Locations: United States, Canberra, Australia, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Iraq, Afghanistan

☆ From Hacker to Hunted Figure, the Polarizing Legacy of Julian Assange
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Mark Landler | Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In his two-decade odyssey from Australian hacker to new-age media celebrity, hunted figure, perennial prisoner and finally, a free man, Julian Assange has always been easier to caricature than characterize. The lack of an agreed-upon label for Mr. Assange — is he a heroic crusader for truth or a reckless leaker who endangered lives? Whatever history’s judgment of Mr. Assange, his appearance Wednesday in a courtroom on a remote Pacific island, where he pleaded guilty to a single count of violating the U.S. From the time he established WikiLeaks in 2006, Mr. Assange, 52, was a polarizing figure, using the internet to solicit and publish government secrets. To others who feared the information he revealed could get people killed, he was destructive, even if there was never proof that lives were lost.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange —, Mr, Assange Organizations: . Espionage, WikiLeaks Locations: Afghanistan, Iraq

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Wednesday walked free after pleading guilty in a U.S. court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific, to a felony charge for publishing U.S. military secrets. As part of the plea agreement, the U.S. is bound to withdraw its extradition request and recommended a sentence to time already served, with no additional fines issued. The WikiLeaks organization posted a statement on the X social media platform saying that Assange was due to fly to his native Australia. "Regardless of the views that people have about Mr. Assange's activities, the case has dragged on for too long. There's nothing to be gained by his continues incarceration, and we want him brought home to Australia.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange, Barry Pollack, Chelsea Manning, Mr, Pollack, Anthony Albanese, " Albanese, London's, Stella Assange Organizations: Wednesday, U.S, U.S ., WikiLeaks, Bombardier Global Locations: U.S, Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan, Australia, Bangkok

☆ Rogue to Victim: What Australia Sees in Julian Assange
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-26 | by ( Damien Cave | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, received a hero’s welcome even before he was set to arrive back in his home country of Australia on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a felony charge of violating the U.S. Australian politicians sprinted to publish statements supporting a plea deal that gained him his freedom. Kevin Rudd, the former prime minister who is now Australia’s ambassador to the United States, even joined him in the U.S. courtroom on the Pacific island of Saipan. That Mr. Assange’s case concluded in a distant outpost — the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth tied to America through post-World War II imperialism — seemed fitting. He ended his standoff with the American government far from Washington, 14 years after he published classified military and diplomatic documents, revealing secret details about U.S. spycraft and the killing of civilians during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Persons: Julian Assange, Kevin Rudd, Assange’s Organizations: WikiLeaks, . Espionage, America, spycraft Locations: Australia, United States, U.S, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Washington, Iraq, Afghanistan

☆ Julian Assange Pleads Guilty to Espionage, Securing His Freedom
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Damien Cave | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a felony charge of violating the U.S. Espionage Act, securing his freedom under a plea deal that saw its final act play out in a remote U.S. courtroom in Saipan in the Western Pacific. He appeared in court wearing a black suit with his lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, and Kevin Rudd, the Australian ambassador to the United States. His family and lawyers documented his journey from London to Bangkok and on to Saipan, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth. They posted photos and videos online from a chartered jet.

Persons: Julian Assange, Jennifer Robinson, Kevin Rudd, Mr, Assange, Stella Organizations: WikiLeaks, . Espionage Locations: Saipan, Western, Australian, United States, Australia, London, Bangkok, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S

☆ Opinion: Will Julian Assange receive a hero’s welcome in Australia?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Opinion Latika Bourke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Julian Assange is no martyr, but the Trump administration’s continued pursuit of the WikiLeaks founder ended up making him one — in the eyes of many Australians. Assange, who was released from prison in the UK on June 24, has long been a polarizing figure in his native Australia. Once Assange pleads guilty, under the plea agreed with the US, he will have spent five years in solitary confinement. Assange’s WikiLeaks disclosures put Western human intelligence sources at risk by the way they were dumped on the internet unredacted. He is reported to be heading to Canberra where he’ll be given a hero’s welcome by some, including his family and hardline supporters.

Persons: Latika Bourke, ”, Read, CNN — Julian Assange, Trump, Latika Bourke Louis Douvis, Assange, narcissist, Pamela Anderson, Vivienne Westwood, Assange “, Chelsea Manning, Matt Canavan, ” Canavan, Julian Assange, Saeed Khan, Canavan, “ he’s, George W, “, Assange’s, Julian Hill, Stella Assange, indefatigably, Hill, Caroline Kennedy, Joe Biden, Anthony Albanese, Albanese’s, Albanese, Scott Morrison, he’s, ” Hill, Assange hasn’t, he’ll Organizations: Nightly, Sydney Morning Herald, Love, CNN, WikiLeaks, Trump, US Army, Australian, Wikileaks, Getty, Reuters, Australian Labor, Democrat, Labor, Liberal, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Australian, India, British, Ecuadorian, London, Sweden, Sydney's, Australia, AFP, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Iraq, Canberra

The plea deal allows Assange to avoid prison in the US and return to his native Australia. “That never came up in our conversations,” said David Stilwell, the State Department assistant secretary for the Pacific region during the Trump administration. Sessions’ focus on national security-related leaks was “probably one of the reasons why the [Assange] case had more traction,” Hickey told CNN. Hickey said he was not involved in the Assange case when he was a senior official at DOJ’s National Security Division from 2016 to 2023. Stilwell, the former State Department official under the Trump administration, pushed back on the Assange plea deal.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange, Biden, Trump, ”, David Stilwell, Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden, General Merrick Garland, Chelsea Manning, Manning, Barack Obama, Obama, Trump’s, Jeff Sessions, Adam Hickey, ” Hickey, Hickey, “ Assange, who’s, Mayer Brown, Garland, Andrew McCabe, “, it’s, ” McCabe, Stilwell, ” Stilwell, Bradley Moss, would’ve, ” Moss, ” CNN’s Zachary Cohen, Marshall Cohen, Kevin Liptak Organizations: CNN, United, Wikileaks, State Department, Australian, Justice Department, FBI, Northern, London’s, US Justice Department, White, Pentagon, Army, Assange ., Department, Obama, Biden, DOJ’s National Security Division, Protect Journalists, Amnesty International, American Civil Liberties Union, Computer, Ecuadorian Locations: United States, Washington, London, Stockholm, Quito, Ecuador, Australia, Pacific, Virginia, London’s, Northern Mariana Islands, Iraq, Guantanamo, Washington ,

☆ Who is Julian Assange, what did the Wikileaks founder do to go through a 12-year legal battle?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was released from a British prison and was making his way back to his home country Australia on Monday after his 12-year battle against extradition to the United States ended in a plea deal. Assange boarded a flight from London’s Stansted airport on Monday after being released on bail from prison, according to a statement from WikiLeaks on Tuesday. “Julian Assange is free,” WikiLeaks said. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange boards a plane at a location given as London, Britain, in this still image from video released on June 25, 2024. Former Ecuadorian president Lenín Moreno told CNN he is glad the Wikileaks founder won’t be handed over to the US.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange, “ Julian Assange, “, Chelsea Manning, ”, Jack Taylor, Hillary Clinton’s, John Podesta, Abu Hamza al, Masri, Joe Biden, Assange’s, Stella Assange, “ Julian, Lenín Moreno, won’t, Moreno, Gustavo Petro Organizations: CNN, Ecuadorian, WikiLeaks, US Justice Department, Wikileaks, Army, US, of Scientology, European, Human Rights, Westminster Magistrates, Democratic National Committee, London’s Metroplitan Police, UN, Amnesty, American Locations: Australia, United States, London, Iraq, Afghanistan, London’s Stansted, ”, United Kingdom, Britain, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Hawaii, Townsville, Queensland, Guantanamo Bay, Iraqi, Sweden, Stockholm, Westminster, England, London’s, Colombia, Mexico

☆ Julian Assange spent 5 years in a 2x3 meter cell, isolated 23 hours a day before his release on bail, WikiLeaks says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewJulian Assange spent more than five years in a 2x3 meter cell, isolated 23 hours a day before his release on bail, WikiLeaks said in a statement on Tuesday. Assange was arrested in the UK in 2019 for breaching bail conditions after seeking asylum in Ecuador's London Embassy to avoid extradition. AdvertisementOn Monday, the High Court of London granted Assange bail, the WikiLeaks statement said, allowing him to board a plane at 5 p.m. local time and leave the UK. AdvertisementBritain's 'Guantánamo Bay'Before his release, Assange spent half a decade detained in a prison once dubbed the UK's "Guantánamo Bay." Belmarsh Prison, where Julian Assange was held, pictured on May 20, 2024, in London.

Persons: —, Julian Assange, Assange, Chelsea Manning, Matthew McKenzie, Carl Court Organizations: Service, WikiLeaks, Business, Embassy, US Department of Justice, United States, Northern, Justice Department, BBC, European, Human Rights, Independent Locations: Ecuador's, Northern Mariana Islands, Northern Mariana, London, Belmarsh, Australia

☆ What to Know About Julian Assange and His Plea Deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Julian Assange spent his youth in Australia during the 1980s in a state of chaotic, perpetual motion. It would eventually place him on the edge of global disruption in an era of backlash against the national security and political establishments. This week, Mr. Assange, the 52-year-old founder of WikiLeaks, boarded a private jet from London for the long flight to a U.S. courtroom in Saipan. He is expected to plead guilty early Wednesday to a single count of illegally obtaining and disseminating national security information. Mr. Assange is expected to be freed immediately, after the U.S. Justice Department agreed to accept the five years he has already served at Belmarsh prison in Britain.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange Organizations: WikiLeaks, U.S . Justice Department Locations: Australia, Melbourne, London, U.S, Saipan, Britain

☆ Assange’s Plea Deal Sets a Chilling Precedent, but It Could Have Been Worse
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The plea deal Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has reached with prosecutors is bad for American press freedoms. Under the deal, he is expected to walk free after spending more than five years in British custody, most of which were spent fighting extradition to the United States. The result is an ambiguous end to a legal saga that has jeopardized the ability of journalists to report on military, intelligence or diplomatic information that officials deem secret. Enshrined in the First Amendment, the role of a free press in bringing to light information beyond what those in power approve for release is a foundational principle of American self-government. This new precedent will send a threatening message to national security journalists, who may be chilled in how aggressively they do their jobs because they will see a greater risk of prosecution.

Persons: Julian Assange Organizations: WikiLeaks Locations: United States

☆ Julian Assange ends stalemate with US, exchanging guilty plea to felony charge for his freedom
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Lauren Said-Moorhouse | Thomas Manglona | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images Assange addresses the Oxford Union Society from the Ecuadorian Embassy in January 2013. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images Assange attends a news conference inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in August 2014. FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images Assange, on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy, holds up a United Nations report in February 2016. Carl Court/Getty Images Assange speaks to the media in May 2017, after Swedish prosecutors had dropped their investigation of rape allegations against Assange. Jack Taylor/Getty Images Assange was seen for the first time in months during a hearing via teleconference in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2018.

Persons: Julian Assange, “, ” Assange, Assange, Kim Hong, Ramona Manglona, Chelsea Manning, Jack Taylor, LEON NEAL, BERTIL ERICSON, FABRICE COFFRINI, Carl Court, Geoff Caddick, Oli Scarff, CARL COURT, Leon Neal, Philip Toscano, Ricardo Patino, Frank Augstein, David Paul Morris, John Stillwell, Mike, Pompeo, Maria Sol Borja, Alastair Grant, Daniel Leal, Elizabeth Cook, Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden, ASSANGE, Adrienne Watson, Stella, ”, Gabriel Shipton, he’s, hasn’t, Julian, –, ” Shipton Organizations: Northern Mariana Islands CNN, Northern, Northern Mariana Islands . Justice Department, WikiLeaks, United States, Reuters, Army, Metropolitan Police, US Justice Department, British, Justice Department, Guardian, Getty, Swedish Trade Union Confederation, St, Paul's, Court, Ecuadorian Embassy, Oxford Union Society, Ecuadorian Foreign, Southwest Festival, Bloomberg, United Nations Human Rights, United, United Nations, CIA, CNN, Ecuadorian, Ecuador, Southwark Crown, White, Sweden, National Security, Department of Justice, BBC Radio Locations: Saipan, Northern Mariana, London, United Kingdom, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands, Australia, United States, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sweden, Ecuadorian, Ecuador, Westminster, AFP, Stockholm, Geneva, Switzerland, Austin , Texas, United Nations, Quito, Southwark, Baghdad, Guantanamo Bay

☆ A Timeline of Julian Assange’s Legal Saga
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Under the agreement he will be freed, having already served that time while in British custody. The deal brought an abrupt end to an extraordinary legal saga that has raised novel issues of national security, press freedoms, politics and diplomacy. Julian Assange, an Australian computer specialist, founds WikiLeaks with a mission of using the internet to help whistle-blowers bring hidden information to light. 2009An Army intelligence analyst becomes a key contributor. A U.S. Army intelligence analyst now known as Chelsea Manning downloads large batches of documents from a classified computer network and begins uploading them to WikiLeaks.

Persons: Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning Organizations: WikiLeaks, Army, U.S . Army Locations: Britain, United States, Australian, Iceland, Sweden

☆ Assange Agrees to Plead Guilty in Exchange for Release, Ending Standoff With U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, agreed to plead guilty on Monday to a single felony count of illegally obtaining and disclosing national security material in exchange for his release from a British prison, ending his long and bitter standoff with the United States. Mr. Assange, 52, was granted his request to appear before a federal judge at one of the more remote outposts of the federal judiciary, the courthouse in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, according to a brief court filing made public late Monday. It was a fitting final twist in the case against Mr. Assange, who doggedly opposed extradition to the U.S. mainland. The islands are a United States commonwealth in the middle of the Pacific Ocean — and much closer to Mr. Assange’s native Australia, where he is a citizen, than courts in the continental United States or Hawaii. Shortly after the deal was disclosed, WikiLeaks said that Mr. Assange had left London.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange, doggedly, ” Matthew J, McKenzie Organizations: WikiLeaks, United, Australia “, Justice Locations: United States, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Britain, U.S, Assange’s, Australia, Hawaii, London

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