Charge...

 

 

There is no constitutional difference between WikiLeaks and the New York Times.

If the New York Times, in 1971, could lawfully publish the Pentagon Papers, knowing that it included classified documents stolen by Rand Corporation military analyst Daniel Ellsberg from our government, then WikiLeaks was entitled, under the First Amendment, to publish classified material that Assange knew was stolen by former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning from our government.

Charge Assange with espionage or any other crime for merely publishing the Manning material, this would be another Pentagon Papers case with the same likely outcome. 

The Supreme Court ruling in the 1971 case, did not say that the newspapers that were planning to publish the Pentagon Papers could not be prosecuted if they published classified material. It only said they could not be restrained that is, stopped in advance from publishing them. They did publish, and they were not prosecuted.

Prosecutors have chosen to charge him with conspiracy to help Manning break into a government computer to steal classified material. Such a crime, if proven beyond a reasonable doubt, would have a far weaker claim to constitutional protection.  

It alleges that "Assange encouraged Manning to provide information and records" from government agencies. It alleges that "Manning provided Assange with part of a password" and that "Assange requested more information." But it goes on to say that although Assange had "been trying to crack the password," he had "no luck so far." Not the strongest set of facts!

The last question is whether Manning will testify against Assange. 

 [Alan Dershowitz, opinion contributor, The Hill]

Leaks...

Attorneys for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are vowing to fight his possible extradition to the United States. British police forcibly removed Assange from the Ecuadorean Embassy, where he had taken asylum for almost seven years. 

U.S. authorities unsealed an indictment accusing him of conspiring with Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, who leaked a trove of sensitive documents to WikiLeaks. That  includes evidence of U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to the Democratic National committee's emails that was scandalous.

In London, Assange’s attorney Jennifer Robinson warned the prosecution of Assange could jeopardize press freedom.

Attorney for Assange said: “This sets a dangerous precedent for all media organizations and journalists in Europe and elsewhere around the world. 

This precedent means that any journalist can be extradited for prosecution in the United States for having published truthful information about the United States. I’ve just been with Mr. Assange in the police cells. He wants to thank all of his supporters for their ongoing support.

El Sisi...

The White House said Monday the two leaders will have a "very frank and open" conversation about human rights and civil society, but officials emphasized their "warm and personal" relationship, adding that expanding on that is among the visit's goals.

But Sisi's trip comes a week before the Egyptian parliament votes on constitutional amendments that would ensure the general-turned-president remains in power until 2034. The amendments proposed by the pro-Sisi parliament majority, Support Egypt Coalition, would allow the president to run for two six-year terms compared with four-year terms. 

In addition, it adds a clause that allows the changes to apply to Sisi, whose last term should end in 2022. The changes would also grant him executive authority over the judiciary and further expand the role of the military in political life.

* For those who knows it all in the Fake News of the Liberal Media" here it is. No one wants these folks who Europe, and USA have had a sample of it in the near past and still chasing those who are al-Qaida affiliate members. 

So Good luck with what you know. It is outdated.   Just a thought.

Pay...

The City of Chicago gave Smollett a deadline of April 4 for him to pay $130,106 or they would sue him. That civil suit was levied one week after the deadline passed without payment.

"In investigating Defendant's false statements and false police report, the City incurred significant costs in order to provide services reasonable related to Defendant's conduct."

The lawsuit lays out a very detailed account of the allegations against Smollett, who told police in the early morning hours of Jan. 29 that he was attacked by two men who hurled homophobic slurs at him, wrapped a noose around his neck and poured an unknown liquid over him. 

The timeline includes a 41-point blow-by-blow, from when Smollett first met the Osundario brothers -- the purported attackers -- in the fall of 2017 until the final allegation that Smollett continued to be in contact with the brothers in the days after the alleged attack.

Any publicity is a good publicity?

Cooked...

“Spying on a political campaign is a big deal,” Attorney General William Barr told a Senate committee. Barr's comments came in the context of potential Justice Department reviews of the Trump-Russia investigation and how it began in 2016.   

While it is important that the top law enforcement in the United States publicly acknowledged that the Obama administration and its intelligence agencies surveilled its domestic political opponents during the heat of a presidential election, the CIA and other federal agencies in addition to the FBI may have been involved. "I’m not talking about the FBI necessarily, but intelligence agencies more broadly," he said.

The FBI, which has incredibly friendly relations with the media, has taken the brunt of the public outcry against the anti-Trump operation. That project included the use of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants, national security letters, human informants, and strategic leaking to craft a narrative of treasonous collusion with Russia to steal an election from Hillary Clinton.

It even included leaks of classified records from former FBI director James Comey, which he said was done for the purpose of launching a special counsel investigation as retaliation for his firing.

There have always been indications that the operation went far beyond the FBI, however. For example, former CIA director John Brennan, now an MSNBC contributor, separately briefed Sen. Harry Reid, (D-Nev.) about the operation. Reid understood that move was undertaken so he could publicize the Russia investigation to influence the ongoing presidential election campaign.

Former director of national intelligence James Clapper, now a CNN contributor, admitted to discussions with media outlets about the investigation. The U.S. embassy in London was used contrary to established protocol to funnel hearsay that was used as a pretext to officially launch a wide-ranging investigation against the entire Trump orbit.

Clinton-connected officials in the State Department were also used to disseminate unverified gossip and allegations about Trump throughout the federal government.

The use of covert individuals to surreptitiously obtain information on private American citizens and share it with the government is the most obvious publicly known indication that agencies beyond the FBI may have been intimately involved in the operation.

The use of Stefan Halper, for example, a London-based American academic with longstanding ties to the FBI, CIA, and Defense Department, raises serious questions about whether CIA assets or resources were used against American citizens. 

Following Nixon-era domestic spying abuses by the U.S. intelligence community, oversight bodies restricted the authority of the CIA to spy on U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.

Numerous Trump affiliates were lured to meetings overseas that were then used as the basis for domestic intelligence collection.

The formal launch of an enterprise investigation against the Trump campaign was opened following a report that George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign advisor, had told a foreign diplomat in London about another overseas meeting during which he was told Russians had dirt on Clinton.

The Washington Post's Aaron Blake is representative of the media's award-winning complicity in furthering a baseless conspiracy theory of Russian collusion and concealing the troubling behavior of their most prized sources:

[Mollie Hemingway MSN News.]

Greg...

A federal grand jury indicted Greg Craig, a prominent Democratic attorney who worked for two presidents, Obama and Clinton, charging him with false statements and concealing material information in connection with work he performed for Ukraine.

Craig, 74, is the highest-profile Democrat to be indicted in a matter stemming from Mueller's work, which resulted in charges against numerous Republicans connected to President Donald Trump. 

The case is being handled by the US Attorney's office for the District of Columbia in connection with the Justice Department's national security division.

Craig was charged with misleading the Justice Department about his role in writing a report in 2012 on the prosecution of Yulia Tymoshenko, a former Ukrainian prime minister, while he was a partner at the law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. Manafort arranged to hire Skadden on behalf of the Ukrainian government, although a Ukrainian oligarch paid most of the firm’s fees, according to the indictment.

Sydney...

No one wants this guy to talk. The Brits should let him go.

Image...

Floated...

The White House tried pressure immigration authorities into releasing migrants on the streets of sanctuary cities did not go over well with Democrats, who denounced the Trump administration as cruel. 

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the proposal. In a statement to the Post, the White House said, "This was just a suggestion that was floated and rejected, which ended any further discussion." The Post reported that the proposal sought to ease the bed shortage at immigration detention centers while also retaliating against sanctuary cities and "send a message to Democrats." 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's district was specifically targeted, according to the Post, noting that the White House wanted to transport migrants into her congressional district in San Francisco.

We take immigrants, they are welcomes here.... but that is just a bout it.

Wanted...

 

Sudan's military ousted President Omar al-Bashir, ending his 30 years in power in response to escalating popular protests. The defense minister announced military rule for two years, imposing an emergency clampdown that risks enflaming protesters who have demanded civilian democratic change.

Al-Bashir's fall came just over a week after similar protests in Algeria forced the resignation of that North African nation's long-ruling, military-backed president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika. 

Together, they represent a second generation of street protests eight years after the Arab Spring uprisings that ousted a number of long entrenched leaders around the Middle East.

But like those popular movements of 2011, the new protests face a similar dynamic a struggle over the aftermath of the leader's removal.

After the military's announcement Thursday, protest organizers vowed to continue their rallies until a civilian transitional government is formed. Tens of thousands of protesters were massed Thursday at a sit-in they have been holding outside the military's General Command headquarters in Khartoum.

The military's coup Thursday brought an end to a president who came to power in a coup of his own in 1989, backed by the military and Islamist hard-liners, and who had survived multiple blows that could have brought him down.

Over his three decades in power, al-Bashir was forced to allow the secession of South Sudan after years of war, a huge blow to the north's economy. He became notorious for a brutal crackdown on insurgents in the western Darfur region that made him an international pariah, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. The United States targeted his government repeatedly with sanctions and airstrikes for his support of Islamic militant groups.