Julian Assange: CIA Head Mike Pompeo Has Declared War On Me, But He Loved Wikileaks During The Election

From an op-ed Julian Assange has written for the Washington Post:

When the director of the CIA, an unelected public servant, publicly demonizes a publisher such as WikiLeaks as a “fraud,” “coward” and “enemy,” it puts all journalists on notice, or should.

Pompeo’s next talking point, unsupported by fact, that WikiLeaks is a “non-state hostile intelligence service,” is a dagger aimed at Americans’ constitutional right to receive honest information about their government. This accusation mirrors attempts throughout history by bureaucrats seeking, and failing, to criminalize speech that reveals their own failings.

Pompeo was once a WikiLeaks fan. On July 24, then partisan politician Pompeo gloatingly tweeted: “Need further proof that the fix was in from Pres. Obama on down? BUSTED: 19,252 Emails from DNC Leaked by WikiLeaks.” Pompeo liked WikiLeaks when he perceived it was publishing material revealing the shortcomings of his political rivals.

It was only when our publications touched Pompeo’s rice bowl that WikiLeaks became his target. Pompeo subsequently deleted the tweet, but he is learning that in the digital age, the truth is hard to hide. You don’t get to love the truth one day and seek its suppression and the incarceration of its publisher the next.

As a candidate, Trump tweeted: “Very little pick-up by dishonest media of incredible information provided by WikiLeaks.” The president mentioned WikiLeaks 164 times during the last month of the election and gushed: “I love WikiLeaks.”