In his first public speech as Director of the CIA Mike Pompeo (Mike Pompeo) decided to declare war on freedom of speech and not a real enemy of the United States. He criticized WikiLeaks, where I am editor-in-chief, calling this organization “non-state hostile intelligence service”. From the point of view Pompeo, revealing the truth about the administration can be a crime, what the attorney-General Geoff sessions (Jeff Sessions) hastened to emphasize, describing my arrest “priority”. As reported mass media, the Federal Prosecutor’s office is considering bringing charges against members of WikiLeaks, including charges of conspiracy, theft of government property and violation of the Law on espionage.
All this rhetoric designed to suppress freedom of speech, was a reaction to the beginning of the publication on the website WikiLeaks of a series of papers called the Vault 7. Documents Vault 7 constitute evidence of incompetence and other shortcomings of the CIA. This includes the fact that the Agency — at the cost of billions of dollars taken from taxpayers ‘ pockets — has created an Arsenal of computer viruses and hacking programs, over which it quickly lost control, then tried to hide their mistakes. These documents also referred to the attempts of the CIA to infect the most popular consumer products and systems with computer viruses.
When the Director of the CIA, which are unelected government official, and publicly denigrating such a resource like WikiLeaks, calling him a “fraudster”, “coward” and an “enemy”, it serves or should serve as a warning to all journalists. The following unconfirmed facts Pompeo thesis that WikiLeaks is a “non-hostile intelligence service,” is a weapon aimed against the constitutional rights of Americans to obtain honest information about their government. This accusation was another example in a long line of unsuccessful attempts of bureaucrats past and present to make criminals of those who expose their shortcomings.
President Theodore Roosevelt understood, that it is impossible to give the “stupid and treacherous people who are trying to call the offense attempts to tell the truth about the administration when the administration is guilty of incompetence and other shortcomings.” Such “attempts is itself a crime against the nation,” wrote Roosevelt. President Trump and his advisers should listen to that advice.
Words have meaning, and I believe that Pompeo really meant it, saying that “Julian Assange does not have freedoms guaranteed by the First amendment. He is not a citizen of the United States”. This statement is simply not true. And it underscores how dangerous it is to give unelected officials and the head of the Agency whose work involves constant lies and attempts to throw everyone off, the right to be the sole arbiter of truth and interpreter of the Constitution.
Pompeo demonstrated a complete inability to irony when he suggested that WikiLeaks ‘ “focus on the authoritarian regimes in our world that actually inhibit freedom of speech and any dissatisfaction” — although he just called it an attack on freedom of speech. It turns out that Pompeo can be put on a par with the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan (257 934 document published on the WikiLeaks website), Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (2.3 million documents) and the dictatorship of Saudi Arabia (122 609 documents), because they all tried, but were unable to put WikiLeaks censorship.
Not so long ago, Pompeo was a fan of WikiLeaks. July 24, Pompeo tweeted a gloating message: “You need more evidence that President Obama was aware of the situation? Gotcha! WikiLeaks has published 19 252 email members NCDP”. Pompeo liked the website WikiLeaks when it published the material, revealing the shortcomings of his political rivals. But as soon as our publications began to affect the Pompeo and his associates, WikiLeaks was a target for persecution. Pompeo later deleted the tweet, but as he was convinced, in the digital age to hide the truth very difficult. It is impossible today to love the truth, and tomorrow try to silence and imprison those who publish.
While still a presidential candidate, trump tweeted: “Unfair media did not pay almost no attention to the incredible data published by WikiLeaks.” Last month, the President referred to the WikiLeaks 164 times, saying: “I love WikiLeaks”.
Very little pick-up that’s so dishonest! by the media of incredible information provided by WikiLeaks. So that’s so dishonest!! Rigged system!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2016
All democratic governments are run by imperfect people. In dictatorships the situation is even worse: “soft dictator” is a myth. These people, both Democrats and dictators, make mistakes and crimes, and often serve themselves rather than their countries. They become objects of WikiLeaks publications.
“The doctrine of Pompeo”, which is reflected in his speeches, directed against all of the major news publications and human rights organizations from ProPublica and Amnesty International to Human Rights Watch. Allegations that WikiLeaks or the organization in some way are “intelligence agencies”, is as absurd as the claim that the CIA is an information edition. And journalists, and intelligence agencies seek and protect their sources, collect information and write reports, but the similarity between them ends. The world cannot afford — and our Constitution forbids it — that the authorities gagged the organizations whose job it is to ensure transparency and informing the American and world public.
The fundamental principles of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, as well as the principle of the interdependence of liberty and security have their roots in the era of the founding of the Republic. The names of those who through the suppression and persecution of the truth are trying to achieve their limited purpose, inevitably forgotten. In a fair fight, as once written by John Milton, truth always wins.
