WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson spoke to RT on Thursday and touched on the recent Project Veritas leak that purportedly shows Julian Assange warning Hillary Clinton’s State Department of an incoming leak of unredacted United States diplomatic cables from a former WikiLeaks employee.
According to Hrafnsson, the WikiLeaks founder offered to help Clinton’s department mitigate the fallout but was ignored.
“Even though WikiLeaks published the cables only after they were leaked on the US-based site Cryptome and a Pirate Bay torrent, Washington has blamed Assange for their release,” RT reported.
The leaked Project Veritas recording is reportedly from a 2011 phone call between Assange and Clinton State Department attorney Cliff Johnson. According to RealClearPolitics , the audio confirms the activist’s previous claims that leaked State Department data was the result of a rogue employee who did not follow the publication’s standard precautions.
“We have intelligence that the State Department Database Archive of 250,000 diplomatic cables…is being spread around and…within the next few days it will become public,” he warned.
The journalist said that there is time to warn specific individuals of the possible fallout ahead of time.
“We’re not sure but the timing could be imminently or within the next few days to a week and there may be some possibility to stop it.”
“I appreciate what you’ve told us, Mr. Assange,” Johnson responded.
As reported by The Guardian , Clinton claimed that Assange must “answer for what he has done” after he was arrested following his removal from the Ecuadorian embassy in London last year. Assange notably published hacked emails from Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. The former secretary of state suggested that the journalist’s arrest was not about “punishing journalism” but rather because of his alleged role in assisting in the hacking of United States intelligence.
Assange is currently being held in a London, England, prison typically reserved for seasoned criminals. He is awaiting possible extradition and will hear the decision on January 4, 2021. As Donald Trump’s presidency is coming to an end, many high-profile politicians and celebrities have called for him to pardon Assange. Critics of his imprisonment claim it is an attack on free speech that sets a disturbing precedent for journalists.
While in captivity, Assange has allegedly shown signs of psychological torture. Amnesty International human rights expert Julia Hall claimed that he has been cut off from his family, legal team, and friends as part of a broader strategy to punish him for his actions. The journalist’s lawyers claimed that this lack of access meant Assange was unable to view the evidence against him.
