Julian Assange Asks That NSA Leaker Winner Be “Supported”

In a move that’s going to tick off the government and it’s ardent supporters, Julian Assange has come out in support of the NSA leaker, and he’s asking others to support her as well. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is calling for the woman who allegedly leaked top secret NSA documents to The Intercept to be “supported” and the reporter who gave her information to US officials to be “named and shamed.”

I mostly love @TheIntercept but if this is your guy name, shame and terminate them NOW: https://t.co/WKaFR1hJgz @ggreenwald

— Defend Assange Campaign (@DefendAssange) June 6, 2017

The FBI arrested Reality Leigh Winner, 25, at her home in Georgia on Saturday, and charged her with “removing classified material from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet,” according to a statement from the US Department of Justice. Because of her arrest, Assange took to Twitter to offer his support.

On Tuesday, Assange encouraged the public to support Winner who, he says, is a “young woman accused of courage in trying to help us know.”

Alleged NSA whistleblower Reality Leigh Winner must be supported. She is a young women accused of courage in trying to help us know. pic.twitter.com/B4aIdt7qz6

— Defend Assange Campaign (@DefendAssange) June 6, 2017

Although those who seek the truth about the actions of the government should support this woman, there are many unknowns still. Assange doesn’t much care for Winner’s reasons behind the leaks, he just wants whistleblowers supported. Should they face backlash over leaking, the truth will get harder to come by.

The secret report, published by The Intercept Monday, alleges that Russian Military Intelligence launched a cyber attack on a voting machine software company, and sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials, just days before the 2016 US presidential election. According to Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, the leak “threatens national security” and “undermines public faith in government.”

Because we haven’t been bombarded with the Russian hacking narrative since November, right? Not one American has heard of it? This was a newsflash? Give me a break. Faith in government is at near historic lows anyway, and it doesn’t look like that will change. Keep in mind, that the report does not claim that voting machines were hacked, a once-popular post-election theory from Democrats, nor does it state whether the information pertaining to the voting systems could be used to hack those systems.

On the other hand, the same Intercept article notes that  “a U.S. intelligence officer who declined to be identified cautioned against drawing too big a conclusion from the document because a single analysis is not necessarily definitive.” Still, the assessment concluded with high confidence that the Kremlin ordered an extensive, multi-pronged propaganda effort “to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency.” –Zerohedge

It’s also going to be important to know that Winner is an ardent Sanders supporter, and outspoken in her “resistance” of Donald Trump, and in all fairness, she should be more upset at Hillary Clinton stealing the election away from the king she hoped to see elected.  Trump actually didn’t have any part in the DNC who cheated Sanders. But do reasons for leaks matter?  Assange doesn’t think so.  And he’s probably correct.

But those “reasons” won’t stop Winner from facing ten years in prison if convicted of leaking these “top secret” documents and it certainly won’t stop the government from destroying those who seek to deliver the truth to the American public. Winner admitted to FBI agents that she stole the documents and provided them to The Intercept. No wonder Assange is supporting her.

It shouldn’t matter what was leaked and the reasons for leaking. It should matter that the validity of the documents can be proven and that whistleblowers have support. There are some Americans left who simply want the truth without the left/right paradigm interfering.