JENNIFER ROBINSON: Well, Pompeo's statements, as the head of the CIA, demonstrate the fervor within the CIA is certainly to be seeking WikiLeaks' prosecution. But to say that receiving and publishing information in the public interest is an attack on Western values is, frankly, wrong and a dangerous statement to be coming from the head of the CIA and someone who's been very senior in the Trump administration. This cuts at the heart of constitutional protections for free speech. It is protected under the U.S. Constitution to receive and publish information that's in the public interest, even classified information. And that any publisher, including WikiLeaks, could be called a hostile non-state intelligence agency, when media organizations around the world all the time, including The New York Times, including The Washington Post, receive classified information and publish it when it's in the public interest -- to say that that is an attack on Western values is a very dangerous statement from the head of the CIA that ought to be investigated.
Speaking to Trump's statements during the election, I think it's important to note that WikiLeaks has been doing the same thing that it's always been doing, which is, again, receiving and publishing information in the public interest. If we look back to 2010, when WikiLeaks was publishing material, the Cablegate material, the diplomatic cables, the Iraqi and Afghanistan War Logs, demonstrating human rights abuse and corruption by the American government around the world, at that time, WikiLeaks was lauded by the progressive left-wing press and, indeed, by the liberal establishment. On Fox News, people like Sarah Palin were calling for him to be killed by drone strike. Fast-forward many years later, and you see that the politics of any publication cuts in different ways, but the principle of what they do remains the same, which is to publish information which they verify to be correct and be in the public interest. That's what WikiLeaks does. And that the United States government is now taking such an aggressive approach towards prosecuting and in potentially extraditing a publisher for doing precisely that raises serious concerns about U.S. press freedom for all publishers and all journalists in the United States.
AMY GOODMAN: Jen, I wanted to ask you about the whole inquiry, the Mueller inquiry, and I wanted to turn to a moment on Democracy Now! when we had journalist Allan Nairn on debating Julian Assange on Democracy Now!
ALLAN NAIRN: I have a -- first, I have a brief question for Julian Assange. Mr. Assange, you said that you did not get the leaks directly from a state. You said you know you did not get the leaks directly from a state. Do you know that Russia didn't give you the leaks through an intermediary?
JULIAN ASSANGE: I'm not going to be playing 20 questions on our sources. I'm sure you understand, Allan, as a source protection organization, we're not going to be inscribing circles around who our sources are, how we communicate with them, any properties that might be used to arrest them or criticize them in some future process.
ALLAN NAIRN: So it is possible that, as Comey said, Russia gave you the leaks through an intermediary?
JULIAN ASSANGE: I'm simply not going to comment on it.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that was Julian Assange and Allan Nairn. Can you talk about what Julian was saying there and also what you know of the Mueller investigation investigating links between President Trump, associates and Russia's 2016 -- whether they were interfering with the U.S. elections and what WikiLeaks had to do with that?
JENNIFER ROBINSON: Well, as Mr. Assange just said himself, WikiLeaks has made very clear that they didn't receive the information from a state source. That's a matter for -- sourcing matters are a matter for WikiLeaks, and they're very careful about their sourcing and protecting their sources, which is why the organization continues to receive such important, sensitive, public interest information.
As to the Mueller investigation, our legal team for WikiLeaks has not been contacted by the investigation at all. There has been no information further from -- at least that we've received, about any indication of any potential charges. And I think, again, it raises questions about sourcing and about the protection of publication -- publishers' ability to be able to publish. In our view, there's no connection between WikiLeaks and the -- any kind of conspiracy. There's no evidence even in the DNC suit, that's been very publicly filed against WikiLeaks, that there's any indication of any prior arrangement or conspiracy. That WikiLeaks has received information from a source and published it, information that was shown to be in the public interest, which demonstrated corruption within the Democratic National -- within the Democratic Party, this is important public interest information. And indeed, The New York Times said that they would have published it, had they received it. So, again, we have to ask questions. Publishers have the right to receive and publish information in the public interest, and that is what WikiLeaks does. They should not be prosecuted for doing so.
AMY GOODMAN: Jen, how is Julian Assange in the embassy? He has been there for more than six years. It's a tiny embassy. What is his condition?
JENNIFER ROBINSON: He has been inside the embassy now for many years. And indeed, over the past six months, he's been in there without access to the internet, phone calls or visitors. Since just this week, he started to have visitors again, which is a good development. And his health is deteriorating. This is something that we've been concerned about for a very long time. He doesn't have access to an outdoor area. He doesn't have the ability to exercise outside. He doesn't have the ability to seek proper medical treatment, which we've been asking for for many years. It's an incredibly difficult situation and not one anyone should be forced to be in this position.
Now, of course, the confirmation that we've had today shows that his decision to seek asylum was the correct one, and Ecuador's decision to grant it to him was the correct one. Now, should a publisher be stuck inside a room for years on end because of a potential prosecution by the United States for publishing information in the public interest? And the answer is, absolutely not. But he is, I think, in as good spirits as you can expect. But I'll wait to see him later this afternoon and have a discussion with him.
AMY GOODMAN: The Ecuadorean Embassy cut off his access to internet, or does he have it now?
JENNIFER ROBINSON: They have reinstored his ability to be able to have visitors. And in terms of the internet and other restrictions, there's a whole range of protocols that are in place. But at least the restrictions have been lifted in terms of visitors, and it's made a difference for him, certainly in the past week.
AMY GOODMAN: Does Julian Assange feel he could walk outside? Does he think the British government -- have they said they are going to arrest him if he does?
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