Naomi Wolf vs. Jaclyn Friedman: Feminists Debate the Sexual Allegations Against Julian Assange

House Judiciary Chair Voices Concern on WikiLeaks Attacks

As Assange was freed, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the constitutional issues raised by WikiLeaks’ release of classified government documents. House Judiciary chair John Conyers said he is worried by the attacks on Assange and his group.

Rep. John Conyers: "There is no doubt that WikiLeaks is in an unpopular position right now. Many feel their publication was offensive. But unpopularity is not a crime, and publishing offensive information isn’t either. And the repeated calls from members of Congress, the government, journalists and other experts crying out for criminal prosecutions or other extreme measures cause me some consternation."

Is WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange a Hero? Glenn Greenwald Debates Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News

Attorney & Blogger Glenn Greenwald on the Arrest of Julian Assange and the U.S. "War on Whistle-blowers"

"Well, I just want to underscore how alarming everything is that you just described, both in that report and in your earlier one, which is, whatever you think of WikiLeaks, they’ve never been charged with a crime, let alone indicted or convicted. And yet, look at what has happened to them. They’ve been essentially removed from the internet, not just through a denial of service attacks that are very sophisticated, but through political pressure applied to numerous countries. Their funds have been frozen, including funds donated by people around the world for his—for Julian Assange’s defense fund and for WikiLeaks’s defense fund. They’ve had their access to all kinds of accounts cut off. Leading politicians and media figures have called for their assassination, their murder, to be labeled a terrorist organization. What’s really going on here is a war over control of the internet and whether or not the internet can actually serve what a lot of people hoped its ultimate purpose was, which was to allow citizens to band together and democratize the checks on the world’s most powerful factions. That’s what this really is about. It’s why you see Western government, totally lawlessly, waging what can only be described as a war on WikiLeaks and Julian Assange outside the bounds of any constraints, because that’s what really is at stake here. If they want to prosecute them, they should go to court and do it through legal means. But this extralegal persecution ought to be very alarming to every citizen in every one of these countries, because it essentially is pure authoritarianism and is designed to prevent the internet from being used as its ultimate promise, which is providing a check on unconstrained political power."   - Glenn Greenwald

Fox Analyst Calls for Assange’s Killing

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange continues to face threatening calls from a number of U.S. politicians and commentators since the release of the diplomatic cables. This week, Fox Business commentator Bob Beckel called for Assange’s assassination.

Bob Beckel: "We’ve got special ops forces. I mean, a dead man can’t leak stuff. This guy’s a traitor, a treasonous, and he has broken every law of the United States. The guy ought to be—and I’m not for the death penalty—so if I’m not for the death penalty, there’s only one way to do it: illegally shoot the son of a bitch."

WikiLeaks Julian Assange: "Start imagining the war or stop supporting it"