Donald Trump: "I Know Nothing About Wikileaks"

Donald "I don't know nothing about Wikileaks" Trump

As I reported earlier today, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was arrested in London today after hiding out in the Ecuadorian embassy since 2012.

Asked by the press today if he "still loves Wikileaks," Donald Trump pretended to "know nothing about Wikileaks."

"I know nothing about Wikileaks, it's not my thing," Pres. Trump says when asked if he "still loves Wikileaks" following arrest of founder Julian Assange. Then-candidate Trump repeatedly praised the organization during the final weeks of the 2016 campaign. https://t.co/EDXbyTbtEx pic.twitter.com/eEqMMJWCIb

— ABC News (@ABC) April 11, 2019

And yet, back in October 2016, Trump extolled the virtues of Wikileaks after they released thousands of emails from the Democratic National Committee.

Trump repeatedly said he “loved” the organization when it was releasing emails related to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Trump Oct 2016: "WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks."

Trump Oct 2016: “This WikiLeaks is like a treasure trove,”

Trump Nov 2016: "Boy, I love reading those WikiLeaks."

Let's go to the video tape!

Trump just said he knows "nothing about" WikiLeaks after founder Julian Assange's arrest.

But in 2016, the president used WikiLeaks' disclosures to repeatedly bash Hillary Clinton during the campaign pic.twitter.com/KdBEgTOWZB

— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) April 11, 2019

Funny how that works, huh?

"I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It's not my thing." - Donald Trump

It was very much his thing when he said the word "WikiLeaks" 141 times during the last month of his 2016 campaign... pic.twitter.com/MRdnENRovF

— Adam Best (@adamcbest) April 11, 2019

Wikileaks' Julian Assange Arrested, Dragged From Ecuadorian Embassy In London

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange being dragged from Ecuadorian embassy in London

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has lived since 2012.

He's sought refuge there from sexual assault allegations against him in Sweden.

From the New York Times:

The United States has charged WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of conspiring to hack a computer as part of the 2010 release of reams of secret American documents, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday, putting him just one flight away from being in American custody after years of seclusion in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

The single charge, conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, was filed a year earlier, in March 2018, and stems from what prosecutors said was his agreement to break a password to a classified United States government computer. It carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and is significant in that it is not an espionage charge, a detail that will come as a relief to press freedom advocates. The United States government had considered until at least last year charging him with an espionage-related offense.

Mr. Assange, 47, has been living at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012. British authorities arrested him on Thursday, heavily bearded and disheveled. A dramatic video showed him shackled and being carried out of the embassy and forced into a police van. He was detained partly in connection with an American extradition warrant after he was evicted by the Ecuadoreans.

VIDEO: UK media outlets are broadcasting video claiming to be the moment Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was arrested and removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after seven years. pic.twitter.com/0IBPWiVCNi

— Michael Gravesande (@OldBlackHack) April 11, 2019

Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified before a congressional committee in February that Trump's close friend and adviser Roger Stone had bee in contact with Assange before WikiLeaks released leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee in 2016.

GOP Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska chimed in about the arrest via Twitter:

This arrest is good news for freedom-loving people. Julian Assange has long been a wicked tool of Vladimir Putin and the Russian intelligence services. He deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.https://t.co/LJAQeKhrj6 https://t.co/LQpoOoTv1y

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) April 11, 2019

Special Counsel Has Emails Between Trump Allies Discussing WikiLeaks Emails Before They Happened

Donald Trump

Special Counsel Robert Mueller apparently has email correspondence between Trump ally Roger Stone and InfoWars' Jerome Corsi discussing the release of DNC emails by WikiLeaks before it happened.

From NBC News:

Two months before WikiLeaks released emails stolen from the Clinton campaign, right-wing conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi sent an email to former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone anticipating the document dump, according to draft court papers obtained by NBC News.

"Word is friend in embassy plans 2 more dumps," Corsi wrote on Aug. 2, 2016, referring to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, according to the draft court papers. "One shortly after I'm back. 2nd in Oct. Impact planned to be very damaging."

The email was revealed in a draft court document, known as a statement of the offense, sent to Corsi by special counsel Robert Mueller's office. Mueller also sent Corsi a draft plea agreement stipulating that the special counsel would not oppose Corsi requesting a sentence of probation if he agreed to plead guilty to one count of lying to federal investigators.

As NBC News reported on Monday, Corsi said he has rejected the deal. He has described Mueller's team as "thugs" and insisted that he did not "intentionally lie" about his communications related to WikiLeaks.

NBC News goes on to note that Corsi SCRUBBED his computer between Jan. 13, 2017, and March 1, 2017, deleting all email correspondence that predated Oct. 11, 2016, including the messages from Stone about WikiLeaks.

With WikiLeaks, Manafort, Roger Stone and Jerome Corsi all in the news over the last 24 hours, here's a timeline of what went down when it came to Russia, WikiLeaks and the 2016 campaign: pic.twitter.com/gTMXCQaMkq

— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) November 27, 2018

By August 2, 2016, Corsi was emailing Stone to predict that WikiLeaks had more document dumps in the works. Stone has said he spoke with Trump the following day, August 3.https://t.co/Ly2V6KXXMi

— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) November 27, 2018

Corsi denies all of this saying it was all an educated guess.

"Why did I think they were coming out in October? Because I said to myself if I had these emails I'd use them as the October surprise," Corsi told NBC News on Tuesday. "And why did I think they would come out serially, drip by drip? Because Assange is very strategic. He understands the news cycle."

Earlier today, The Guardian reported that former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort met with WikiLeaks' Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London right before he took over the Trump campaign.

News Round-Up: February 27, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunk Bernardo Belmar (above) reminds us why winter living is luscious on the left coast.

• Speaking of the left coast, California lawmakers have proposed legislation that would declare so-called "conversion therapy" an "unlawful practice" and fraud.

• In March of 2017, WikiLeaks tweeted it never had direct contact with long-time Trump friend/adviser Roger Stone. The Atlantic has obtained private Twitter messages between the two showing the denial was a lie.

• Donald Trump son-in-law and presidential adviser Jared Kushner has had his security clearance downgraded.

• "Goddess of pop" and awesome gay ally Kylie Minogue will headline New York City Pride.

• Trans actress Laverne Cox dropped her first single “Beat for the Gods” this week, and the music video gives glory to voguing, drag and club dance with some Fosse references thrown in for good measure.

Trump Rails At FBI Over 'Leakers'

President Trump took to Twitter this morning (for a change) to complain about leaks to journalists from the FBI and his own White House:

The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security "leakers" that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

But, let's take a trip in the "way back machine" to a time when the Trumpster looooooved leaks...

WikiLeaks Promises To Release Trump Tax Returns If They Get Them

In light of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway's announcement that Donald Trump will not be releasing his tax returns, after months of promising to do just that, WikiLeaks has tweeted they intend to share them if anyone sends the docs to them.

Trump's breach of promise over the release of his tax returns is even more gratuitous than Clinton concealing her Goldman Sachs transcripts.

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 22, 2017

Here's just one of many instances where Trump promised to release his tax returns:

Julian Assange Reneges On Offer To Turn Himself In If Manning Given Clemency

Last week, Wikileaks tweeted that if  President Obama were to grant Chelsea Manning clemency, Julian Assange would agree to US extradition.

Yesterday Obama commuted Manning's 35 year sentence to 7 years,  with release in May of this year. The White House did not indicate that Manning's commutation was related in any way to Assange.

That being said, it's no surprise today that Wikileaks and Assange have now reneged on their offer.

From The Hill:

The lawyer for Julian Assange said President Obama’s commutation of Chelsea Manning’s sentence does not meet the conditions of the WikiLeaks head’s offer to be extradited to the United States if Manning were pardoned. Obama on Tuesday commuted Manning’s sentence for leaking diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, leading many to wonder whether that meant Assange was ready to surrender to the Department of Justice.

“Mr. Assange welcomes the announcement that Ms. Manning’s sentence will be reduced and she will be released in May, but this is well short of what he sought,” said Barry Pollack, Assange’s U.S.-based attorney, via email. “Mr. Assange had called for Chelsea Manning to receive clemency and be released immediately.”

Assange has not been publicly charged with a crime by US authorities, but his team maintains that charges are likely “under seal” – a tactic in which charges are kept secret in order to prevent suspects from fleeing. The White House yesterday denied that Manning’s commutation had anything to do with Julian Assange.

CNN Cuts Ties To DNC Chair Donna Brazile

DNC chair Donna Brazile

CNN has severed all ties with DNC chair Donna Brazile after the latest WikiLeaks email dump seems to show Brazile sharing debate questions with the Clinton campaign.

CNN says it is "completely uncomfortable" in continuing with Brazile as a political contributor in light of the hacked emails, and as such, Brazile has resigned her position with CNN.

Via Politico:

Hacked emails posted by WikiLeaks show Brazile, whose CNN contract was suspended when she became interim DNC chair over the summer, sharing with the Clinton campaign a question that would be posed to Hillary Clinton before the March CNN Democratic debate in Flint, and sharing with the campaign a possible question prior to a CNN town hall also in March.

In a statement, CNN spokeswoman Lauren Pratapas said that on Oct. 14, the network accepted Brazile's resignation.

"On October 14th, CNN accepted Donna Brazile’s resignation as a CNN contributor. (Her deal had previously been suspended in July when she became the interim head of the DNC.) CNN never gave Brazile access to any questions, prep material, attendee list, background information or meetings in advance of a town hall or debate. We are completely uncomfortable with what we have learned about her interactions with the Clinton campaign while she was a CNN contributor," Pratapas said.

A CNN employee, speaking on background, suggested Brazile may have met the woman who was supposed to pose the question about lead poisoning during a service event planned the day before the debate.

Clinton Campaign Compares Donald Trump's Connection To Hacked Emails With Watergate

(image via JoeMyGod)

The Clinton campaign has accused Donald Trump and Russia of criminal theft in a newly penned essay to be shared on Medium today.

POLITICO has the inside story:

Four decades after five men broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate, Hillary Clinton’s campaign is trying to frame the hacking of her campaign chairman’s email as a repeat of the most famous political scandal in American history – and to directly implicate Donald Trump.

“What did Trump know, and when did he know it?” the campaign asks in an essay that will post on Medium, a play on the famous line from the Senate’s Watergate investigation. (“What did the President know and when did he know it?” Sen. Howard Baker asked then.)

“We’re witnessing another effort to steal private campaign documents in order to influence an election,” Clinton campaign spokesman Glen Caplin writes in an early version of the post, which was shared with POLITICO. “Only this time, instead of filing cabinets, it’s people’s emails they’re breaking into…and a foreign government is behind it.”

Clinton’s campaign has been increasingly frustrated by media coverage of campaign chairman John Podesta’s stolen emails, which are being released by the thousands every morning on Wikileaks.

Major news outlets have treated the internal correspondence of top campaign officials as a treasure trove of unfiltered information about how Clinton’s operatives navigated a thorny and prolonged primary challenge, and dealt with the almost-crippling State Department email scandal, which defined the early months of Clinton's campaign.

Private email conversations about Chelsea Clinton, where former presidential aide Doug Band accused her of acting like a "spoiled brat kid" who "hasn't found her way and has a lack of focus in her life" have had internal repercussions.

“Donald Trump needs to condemn these illegal hacks and denounce Russian efforts to intervene in our election,” Caplin writes. “Why is Trump protecting Putin by lying about Russia’s role in these hacks? What did his campaign know and when did they know it? Why won’t he condemn this? With less than a month until Election Day, these are the questions we need answered — and soon.”

Podesta last week claimed Trump operatives colluded with the Russians in an effort to derail Clinton and meddle in the U.S. election. Speaking to reporters aboard the Democratic nominee’s campaign plane, he pointed to longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone as an operative who has bragged about his back-channel connection to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, and said it was safe to assume Stone had advanced warning about the hack. Stone has vehemently denied the accusation.

Trump has denied any colluding with Russia and any involvement in the hack of the Democratic National Committee last summer. "I don't know Putin," he said at the second presidential debate. "I notice anything wrong happens, they like to say the Russians. She doesn't know it's the Russians doing the hacking. Maybe there is no hacking."

WikiLeaks Punks Trump Followers - No #OctoberSurprise

A Tuesday morning WikiLeaks event in Berlin did not produce the “#OctoberSurprise” to derail Democrat Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign that many Trump followers were hoping for, but Julian Assange said he would release more documents before Election Day.

From The Daily Beast:

A Tuesday morning press conference by WikiLeaks, which Clinton antagonists and conspiracy theorists had hoped would spell the beginning of the end of her presidential campaign, turned out to be a celebration-cum-infomercial for the website, which celebrates its 10th anniversary today and is promoting a new book.

Either WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, never really had the goods on Clinton, or Donald Trump and his supporters just got wickedly trolled.

For months, WikiLeaks has been hinting that it would release damaging documents about Clinton in the home stretch of the presidential campaign. The group had posted embarrassing emails stolen by hackers from the Democratic National Committee in July, leaving the world wondering, what else does Assange have in his hard drive?

Egged on by the apparently unfounded claims of Trump adviser Roger Stone that WikiLeaks had a campaign-ending document dump in store, anticipation reached a fever pitch. According to Google, the top trending question about Trump’s opponent on Monday was “What could WikiLeaks have on Clinton?”

Turns out, probably not much. There was no spectacular release of private emails. No bombshells about the Clinton Foundation or brain tumors. Instead, Assange and some of his WikiLeaks colleagues used the press conference to make a pitch for donations and to note the remarkable quantity of the site’s work—10 million documents published, containing more than 10 billion words, which the group claims is “more secret documents than the rest of the world’s media combined.”

Just a few reactions from Twitter:

Little Julian is the boy who cried, "emails!" #Wikileaks https://t.co/XHWjtlFLX0

— Laura (@SheWhoVotes) October 4, 2016

Oh dear.
Fox News: #wikileaks 'October Surprise' FAILS https://t.co/BPudPgSCtq @RogerJStoneJr

— Joe Conason (@JoeConason) October 4, 2016

Here's to you Wikileaks... pic.twitter.com/iKJElOVzoS

— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) October 4, 2016

This is so glorious! Trump supporters got played big time. Assange is such scum. https://t.co/fgbZJwZfcU

— Scott Nevins (@ScottNevins) October 4, 2016

Trump backers realize they've been played as WikiLeaks fails to deliver October surprise https://t.co/5R60LYeXjt

— Mike Signorile (@MSignorile) October 4, 2016

DNC Email Hacker Connected To Russian Government

The Daily Beast has the details:

The hacker who claims to have stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee and provided them to WikiLeaks is actually an agent of the Russian government and part of an orchestrated attempt to influence U.S. media coverage surrounding the presidential election, a security research group concluded on Tuesday.

The researchers, at Arlington, Va.-based ThreatConnect, traced the self-described Romanian hacker Guccifer 2.0 back to an Internet server in Russia and to a digital address that has been linked in the past to Russian online scams. Far from being a singly, sophisticated hacker, Guccifer 2.0 is more likely a collection of people from the propaganda arm of the Russian government meant to deflect attention away from Moscow as the force behind the DNC hacks and leaks of emails, the researchers found.

ThreatConnect is the first known group of experts to link the self-proclaimed hacker to a Russian operation, amidst an ongoing FBI investigation and a presidential campaign rocked by the release of DNC emails that have embarrassed senior party leaders and inflamed intraparty tensions turning the Democratic National Convention. The emails revealed that party insiders plotted ways to undermine Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid.

WikiLeaks hasn't responded to Guccifer 2.0’s claims of responsibility for the email leak.

Chelsea Manning requests presidential pardon

Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning, asked President Obama to pardon him for handing over thousands of secret documents to WikiLeaks.

Manning's lawyer David. E. Coombs filed the formal request for presidential pardon on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Coombs asked Obama to either reduce her sentence to time Manning has already served since her arrest in 2010, or for a full presidential pardon. In either case, Manning would be free to go.

In the request's cover letter, Coombs wrote that all Manning did was share documents with "a journalist," stressing that Manning's actions didn't harm the United States and that her punishment is disproportionate:

The length of Private Manning's sentence is one that we would expect for someone who disclosed information in order to harm the United States or who disclosed information for monetary gain. Private Manning did neither.

Instead, he disclosed information that he believed could spark a meaningful public debate on the costs of war, and specifically on how we value human life.

(source)

FAQ as Bradley Manning trial to begin

After three years in solitary confinement, the trial of U.S. Army PFC Bradley Manning about to hit full-swing. Queerty has compiled a comprehensive "primer" to catch you up in case you haven't been following the story for the past three years.

Who Is Bradley Manning?

Bradley Manning is an intelligence analyst who has achieved the rank of Private First Class in the United States Army.

Why Is He on Trial?

PFC Manning was arrested for allegedly passing classified material to the website WikiLeaks while stationed in Baghdad, Iraq, including videos of separate airstrikes in both Iraq and Afghanistan and hundreds of thousands of restricted army reports. The
“Collateral Murder” video, as the one set in Iraq is called, depicts a U.S. Attack Helicopter killing 12 civilians and those who attempted to help the wounded.

What Is the Most Serious Charge?

PFC Manning is facing multiple counts, the most serious of which is Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) Article 104, “Aiding the Enemy,” which is potentially punishable by death.

What Does the Prosecution Think?

Prosecutors are portraying Manning not as a heroic whistleblower, but as a deeply unhappy soldier who craved the fame and notoriety that leaking the classified documents would get him.

What Does the Defense Think?

Manning’s defense team insists that he wasn’t a gloryhound, but a troubled and sensitive soldier that was struggling with his gender identity and was deeply disturbed by the daily realities of life on the ground in Iraq.

Why Are People Protesting For PFC Manning?

After the arrest, Manning was placed in solitary confinement under “Prevention of Injury” status. He was not allowed to speak to other detainees, could only leave his cell for 20 minutes a day, and had to remove his clothing to sleep among other very restrictive rules. There is some speculation that the “Prevention of Injury” status is due to Manning’s perceived instability due to his gender identity issues, and Manning’s treatment was a cause of international concern, even being addressed by President Obama during a White House press conference. There are also people who see the uncovering of multiple war crimes in the videos and documents he released as being in the grand tradition of whistleblowing, and that he should be seen as a hero and not a criminal.


Read the full comprehensive guide to the Manning trial at Queerty.