AMY GOODMAN: Was he lying, Julian?
JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, as you said, he just said that they would pertain to the Clinton Foundation, which he was -- he was wrong. He's just repeating what I said in the press.
AMY GOODMAN: So then, more recently, let's turn to Roger Stone speaking to reporters following his appearance in this closed hearing of the House Intelligence Committee. His interview with lawmakers was part of the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.
ROGER STONE: I made the case that the accusation that I knew about John Podesta's email hack in advance was false, that I knew about the content and source of the WikiLeaks disclosures regarding Hillary Clinton was false, and that my exchange with someone claiming to be Guccifer 2.0, when viewed through the context, content and timing, was benign and innocuous.
AMY GOODMAN: Stone also told reporters he declined to name his WikiLeaks intermediary during the interview.
ROGER STONE: The reason I am not submitting that name is because the intermediary is a journalist, and our conversation was off the record. I'm an opinion journalist. He's a journalist. I'm not going to burn somebody who I spoke to off the record. If he releases me, if he allows me to release it, I would be happy to give it to the committee. I'm actually going to try to do that.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, of course, Roger Stone isn't a journalist, but what is your response to what he's saying right here, that there was an intermediary between you and him, who was a journalist?
JULIAN ASSANGE: That the United States' political culture has gone mad. Roger Stone is trolling epically the Democratic political class in order to elevate his profile. And it's sad to see that Democracy Now! is buying into it.
AMY GOODMAN: Presenting the news is not buying into it. Presenting the news is having you respond to what he's saying because you are the center of this, in this particular case, and it's important to hear your voice.
JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, look, Amy -- look, Amy, I'm getting annoyed. There is a historic event occurring this afternoon involving Catalonia, that could well change the nature of Europe, what forms of repression are acceptable within the Western world, and what moves populations can take in order to resist repression and come together to secure their self-determination. This has been the greatest Gandhian project that has occurred. Millions of Catalonians turning out to vote in the street are being beaten aggressively by Spanish security forces, being hacked by Spanish security forces, having their telephone exchange occupied, having their political leadership arrested, being threatened, as we saw today, with rebellion and put in prison for a minimum of 25 years.
That is going to spread throughout the Western world. The lessons of this are going to spread throughout the Western world to -- yes, to secessionist movements, but also to the states trying to repress them and to repress people's struggles for self-determination, in general. The discipline with which the Catalan population have carried out their referendum is astounding. Astounding, that millions of people are going to the polls, being beaten by the police, and not one image of them fighting back. Not one image. That's incredible discipline. And similarly in their marches and so on. And if the U.S. left is not absolutely obsessed with what is happening there and the redefinition that is occurring of the nature of the relationship between population and state, well, I mean, I have no time for you.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we certainly had time for you today, Julian, and I think you made some really critical points, and they're important. And I wanted to end on an issue that I also think that you care about, and that's the issue of -- well, Chelsea Manning is out of jail.
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