4 ms·

> Assange received classified material and published it. This gets repeated a lot but is not what Assange is charged with. He didn't just "receive" classified

> Assange received classified material and published it. This gets repeated a lot but is not what Assange is charged with. He didn't just "receive" classified information. He's alleged to have not only communicated with Manning to direct her to grab specific information and tried to help her break into systems. He'd have a much better case if he had just been a passive publisher of information. You can't be involved in a crime and then claim journalistic protections after the fact. Assange is not a journalist. He's a wannabe spymaster and muckraker. Zero percent of his case has anything to do with real journalists as none of them would have participated in the exfiltration of classified documents.

roody15 5y ago
I disagree. Chelsea Manning bears the overwhelming fault from a US Legal perspective. He was a member of the armed forces under oath and knowingly shared classified information. Assange has no oath to the US and despite his interest in the material it is quite a stretch to somehow suggest he “made” Chelsea share this info.
- giantrobot 5y ago
  I never said he made Manning do anything. He directed and assisted Manning. A journalist doesn't help a source get more material. They don't because they know it's illegal.
  - fit2rule 5y ago
    This is false. Journalists help their sources, all the time. Its a key part of journalism to develop sources that produce the truth of the story. The idea that journalists are only allowed to publish what's handed to them serves the intelligence communities' purpose of being the only sources of righteous propaganda.
boomboomsubban 5y ago
>He didn't just "receive" classified information. He's alleged to have not only communicated with Manning to direct her to grab specific information and tried to help her break into systems. One of the seventeen charges is about this. The others are all solely to do with publishing classified information. If all of the other charges were dropped, maybe you'd have a point but it's clear that the entire thing is primarily about his work as a journalist publishing documents.

roody15 5y ago

I disagree. Chelsea Manning bears the overwhelming fault from a US Legal perspective. He was a member of the armed forces under oath and knowingly shared classified information. Assange has no oath to the US and despite his interest in the material it is quite a stretch to somehow suggest he “made” Chelsea share this info.

giantrobot 5y ago
I never said he made Manning do anything. He directed and assisted Manning. A journalist doesn't help a source get more material. They don't because they know it's illegal.
- fit2rule 5y ago
  This is false. Journalists help their sources, all the time. Its a key part of journalism to develop sources that produce the truth of the story. The idea that journalists are only allowed to publish what's handed to them serves the intelligence communities' purpose of being the only sources of righteous propaganda.

boomboomsubban 5y ago

>He didn't just "receive" classified information. He's alleged to have not only communicated with Manning to direct her to grab specific information and tried to help her break into systems. One of the seventeen charges is about this. The others are all solely to do with publishing classified information. If all of the other charges were dropped, maybe you'd have a point but it's clear that the entire thing is primarily about his work as a journalist publishing documents.