If Julian Assange<\/strong> were alive in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, he would have been on the wrong side of history. That\u2019s what the new CIA Director,\u00a0Mike Pompeo<\/strong>, would have you believe, at least. In an address Thursday afternoon, Pompeo blasted Wikileaks<\/strong> for its supposed ties to foreign governments, and the fact that Wikileaks targets American secrets more than other nations. Much of what he accused Wikileaks, Julian Assange, and Edward Snowden of were flat out falsehoods. Let\u2019s break it down.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the case if you believe Congress actually does a good job of holding the CIA accountable. Recently Wikileaks released the largest dump of CIA files \u2013 known as Vault 7<\/strong> \u2013 showing how the CIA was creating tools to hack virtually any devise that has internet capabilities and make it look<\/em> like someone else did the hacking.\u00a0The reactions by those in Congress of shock and horror\u00a0would have us believe that either a) they knew about it and are faking surprise, or b) Congress has no clue what the CIA is up to. Take your pick \u2013 liars or idiots. Neither should be trusted to hold the CIA accountable.<\/p>\n Wait a minute. I thought the CIA was held accountable. What are these times you have failed to live up to Americans\u2019 high standards? Was it when former CIA Director James Clapper<\/strong> was caught lying to Congress regarding the bulk collection of data of millions of Americans? Must be. Was he held accountable for perjury before Congress and tried? No. Last month he was trotted out before the House Intelligence Committee to testify about Russia.<\/p>\n Ah yes. Everyone knows of the immense popularity of Mr Assange. You know, hanging out on Sunset Blvd, throwing wild Hollywood parties, getting to attend the Golden Globes with his new girlfriend Pamela Anderson. Oh wait, he\u2019s been stuck in the Ecuadorean embassy for nearly 5 years, afraid to leave the building or even stand near a window for too long. As for Edward Snowden \u2013 he isn\u2019t exactly living the dream either. Stuck in Moscow of all places, because he fears the Russian government less than his own.<\/p>\n This one just isn\u2019t true. Sure, Wikileaks published the documents Manning obtained, but Pompeo has his timeline mixed up. It was only\u00a0after<\/em> Manning saw the targeting of innocent civilians in Iraq and the numerous examples of war crimes that she came forward to Assange.<\/p>\n While American news coverage of Wikileaks obviously focuses on American leaks, Wikileaks has a history of releasing documents from governments and organizations around the world. For instance, the Trade-in-Service Agreement<\/a> which involved the US, EU, and 22 other countries, emails from the ruling party of Turkey<\/a>, countries gobbling up Africa\u2019s uranium<\/a>, and IMF documents<\/a> with relation to Greece\u2019s debt problem. Wikileaks isn\u2019t centered on the U.S. If it seems that way, perhaps we should question the U.S. more than we do.<\/p>\n We\u2019re still on the Russian collusion thing, ey? Since the big hub-bub started, various accusations have been made, but the CIA, FBI, and NSA have\u00a0never<\/em> provided proof to the American people<\/em>. We are simply to take the CIA at its word, which, unlike Wikileaks \u2013 which has a near 100% perfect record for publishing only authentic documents \u2013 has a long history of lying to the public, going back all the way to its inception following WWII.<\/p>\n And we\u2019ll just wrap it up there. Yes, he actually called the\u00a0New York Times<\/em> and the\u00a0Washington Post<\/em> \u201clegitimate\u201d. He has officially lost all credibility.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u201cLet me assure you. When it comes to covert action, there is oversight and accountability every step of the way.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n
\u201cThe times in which we have failed to live up to high standards of our fellow citizens have been cataloged well.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n
\u201cWhile we do our best to quietly collect information on those who pose very real threats to our country, individuals such as Julian Assange and Edward Snowden seek to use that information to make a name for themselves.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n
\u201c[Wikileaks] directed Chelsea Manning in her theft of specific secret information.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n
\u201c[Wikileaks] overwhelmingly focuses on the United States.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n
\u201cIn January of this year, our intelligence community determined that Russian military intelligence, the GRU, had used Wikileaks to release data\u2026\u00a0against the Democratic National Committee.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n
\u201cAssange compares himself to Thomas Jefferson, Dwight Eisenhower, and the Pulitzer Prize winning work of legitimate news organizations such as the New York Times and the Washington Post.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n
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