Barack Obama

Wikileaks: Japan To Obama: Don't Apologize For Hiroshima

Brian Fung | October 13, 2011, 5:00AM

The Japanese government urged the Obama administration in 2009 not to apologize for the American nuclear attack on Hiroshima during World War II, according to a secret diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks last month.

Vice Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka told American diplomats ahead of a presidential trip to Japan that an American apology would be a "non-starter" and that a simple visit to Hiroshima -- "without fanfare" -- would be sufficiently symbolic.

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Wikileaks

Wikileaks: Are 'Jamaicans' The Next Great Terror Threat?

Brian Fung | October 10, 2011, 5:03AM

Forget fundamentalist Wahhabi Muslims. Could bands of roving Rastafarians be far from wreaking havoc and fear on American society?

That's what a secret U.S. diplomatic cable written in 2010 and shared by Wikileaks alleges. The cable, issued by an unnamed State Department official from the bureau's outpost in Kingston, Jamaica, warns that the country's dizzying domestic crime rate has already had ill consequences for the United States -- and it could get worse.

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Wikileaks

Wikileaks: Blackberry-Maker RIM Drawn Into Bizarre Ad Spat Over Venezuelan Production Of 'Jesus Christ, Superstar'

Brian Fung | September 21, 2011, 6:15AM

A new Wikileaks cable could put Blackberry maker RIM in hot water over its dealings in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. The cable, written by an anonymous U.S. diplomat, reveals the company was embroiled in a curious 2010 spat over advertising for a theater version of "Jesus Christ, Superstar." It also suggests just how far the Venezuelan government was willing to go in order to cut off revenue to what it considered antagonistic media outlets.

The cable details how RIM joined its partner in that country, the government-owned phone giant Movilnet, in an effort to prevent a theater company from advertising in opposition-affiliated media outlets.

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Wikileaks

Will Freedom From Qaddafi Make Libyans Better Drivers?

Thomas Lane | September 20, 2011, 11:07PM

A rebel drives through Tripoli, Libya, 24 August 2011.

The blessings of freedom are many; but could one of them be making people better drivers? The people of Libya may soon find out.

A recently released Wikileaks cable, originally classified in November 2009, details the various the horrors of driving in Libya, where road accidents are the third leading cause of death. The cable's anonymous U.S. diplomat author quotes a local as wondering why many Libyans exhibit "criminal behavior" as soon as they get behind the wheel.

The cable's author twice quotes one rather interesting theory: that a lack of political freedom is basically turning people into carbon copies of Nick Cage from Drive Angry 3D.

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Wikileaks

Wikileaks Auctioning Off Assange's Prison Coffee, CBS Logo Coin To Raise Money

Jillian Rayfield | September 16, 2011, 1:26PM

The apparently cash-strapped Wikileaks is auctioning a number of would-be collectors items on eBay, including a packet of coffee smuggled out of prison by Julian Assange, tickets to a Vivenne Westwood fashion show, and signed photos and posters of Assange himself.

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Cuba

Wikileaks: U.S. Official Snubbed Cuban Plea for Hurricane Aid

Brian Fung | September 16, 2011, 12:56PM

Cuba doesn't make a habit of asking the United States for help. The two countries haven't had formal diplomatic relations for 50 years. So when Havana hesitantly raises the issue of disaster aid with a U.S. Coast Guard officer while on a boat in the middle of the Caribbean where nobody can see or hear them talking -- that's probably important, right?

That's exactly what happened in 2009, according to a secret U.S. diplomatic cable that records a conversation between an American counternarcotics agent and a Cuban foreign ministry official. But instead of weighing the proposal or passing it up the chain of command, the U.S. agent simply said no.

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Wikileaks

Wikileaks: U.S. Wanted Venezuela's Equivalent Of "Larry The Cable Guy" To Challenge Hugo Chavez

Thomas Lane | September 15, 2011, 11:59PM

Hugo Chavez at the UN, 2006

A classified cable from the most recent batch of "Wikileaks" suggests U.S. officials were enthusiastic about a quixotic bid by a Venezuelan comedian who challenged President Hugo Chavez.

The cable - which is admittedly quite tongue-in-cheek in tone - dates from 10 July, 2006, and deals with the preparatory stages of an eventually aborted presidential run by Venezuelan funnyman, Benjamin Rausseo.

Rausseo is better known to Venezuelans as "El Conde del Guacharo" (literally, "The Count of Oilbird") - a downmarket satirical character that's basically Venezuela's equivalent of "Larry the Cable Guy." The writer of the classified document describes Rausseo's humor as "crude and vulgar," and urges the reader: "think, 'Beverly Hillbillies' meets 'Cheech and Chong.'"

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Wikileaks

Wikileaks Cable: Kyrgyzstan's Former President Can Be Bought For A Trip To Paris, Apparently

Brian Fung | September 14, 2011, 5:59AM

The United States may have paid Kyrgyzstan a pretty penny for the right to keep its Afghan supply lines open, but when it comes to France, the Kyrgyz government was little more than a cheap date.

Kyrgyz officials rebuffed French pleas for access to the country's Manas air base until the French promised to arrange a trip to Paris for then-Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and an upgrade to the two nations' political relationship, according to a 2009 confidential U.S. diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks.

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Julian Assange

Wikileaks Blames The Guardian For Leak Of Unredacted State Dept Cables

Jillian Rayfield | September 1, 2011, 11:09AM

WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

Wikileaks is blaming the British newspaper The Guardianfor a security breach that resulted in the release of over 251,000 unredacted diplomatic cables, calling it "the guardian's hacking scandal."

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FBI

FBI Raids Homes Of Suspected 'Anonymous' Hackers

Ryan J. Reilly | July 19, 2011, 2:10PM

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has raided several homes and made arrests as part of their investigation into the 'hackivist' group Anonymous.

An official told TPM that around 14 arrests were expected in the Anonymous raid. CNN reported that 12 arrests have already been made and that 15 were expected.

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Bradley Manning

Obama Faces Criticism From Mentor Over Bradley Manning Treatment

Melissa Jeltsen | April 11, 2011, 4:50PM

The man who taught President Obama constitutional law is now accusing him of violating it in his own administration. Laurence Tribe, who was one of Obama's professors at Harvard and served as a Justice Department legal adviser until last December, has signed onto a letter with over 250 other legal scholars assailing the Obama administration for its treatment of Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of divulging classified documents to Wikileaks.

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Bradley Manning

911 Call Alleges Bradley Manning Threatened Stepmom With Knife

David Taintor | March 30, 2011, 8:31AM

Pfc. Bradley Manning

A Frontline investigation reveals that alleged Wikileaks source Pfc. Bradley Manning threatened his stepmother with a knife in 2006.

Manning's father, Brian Manning, in an interview with Frontline said the incident spawned from a discussion of Bradley Manning needing to follow house rules. Then things reached a boiling point, he said.

"My husband's 18-year-old son is out of control and just threatened me with a knife," Manning's stepmother told the 911 dispatcher. "And his father has just had surgery and he is down on the floor... Get away from him! You, get away from him! Get away from him!"

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Bradley Manning

Report: Military Files More Charges Against Alleged WikiLeaks Source Bradley Manning

Ryan J. Reilly | March 2, 2011, 5:30PM

Pfc. Bradley Manning

The military has filed 22 additional charges against Pvt. Bradley Manning, including aiding the enemy, in the alleged massive leak of classified files, NBC News reports.

Manning is accused of illegally downloading tens of thousands of classified documents from both the U.S. military and the State Department that were later released by WikiLeaks, Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube report.

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Bradley Manning

Command Changes At Brig Where Manning Is Held

Rachel Slajda | January 26, 2011, 3:24PM

Pfc. Bradley Manning

A new commander has taken over the brig at the Quantico Marine Corps base in Virginia, where Pfc. Bradley Manning is being held on charges that he leaked classified information.

Commander James Averhart was replaced by Chief Warrant Officer Denise Barnes on Monday, a Quantico spokesman told CNN. The spokesman said the change was ordered back in October.

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Wikileaks

Manning Visitors: We Were Detained At Base, Stopped From Visiting

Rachel Slajda | January 24, 2011, 11:23AM

Pfc. Bradley Manning

Two people who were on their way this weekend to visit Pfc. Bradley Manning, the man accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and other information to Wikileaks, say they were detained at the military base where Manning is being held, apparently, they say, without reason.

David House, a hacker from Boston who says he has been visiting Manning since September, and Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake, went to the Quantico Marine Corps base in Virginia Sunday afternoon. They were hoping to visit Manning, as well as deliver a petition to the base calling for better treatment for Manning.

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Allen Stanford

After Complaining Of Delay, Allen Stanford Wants Two Year Hold On Trial

Ryan J. Reilly | January 5, 2011, 12:00PM

Allen Stanford

Allen Stanford, the man accused of stealing $7 billion from investors in a Ponzi scheme, wants a two year delay in his trial. But the Justice Department argued this week that's all his lawyers are trying to do with their request is to get him released from prison in the interim.

The feds said in a court filing that the two year postponement is excessive and that defense lawyers had already filed motions "covering most conceivable legal issues."

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Judith Miller

Judith Miller Responds To Backlash Over Assange Comments

Eric Lach | January 4, 2011, 12:58PM

Judith Miller

After getting attention for calling Julian Assange a "bad journalist" this weekend on Fox News, former New York Times reporter Judith Miller sent an email to The Cutline defending her point.

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Darrell Issa

Issa Announces Hearings, Will Probe Fannie, Freddie, FDA, WikiLeaks

Ryan J. Reilly | January 3, 2011, 12:52PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

After making the rounds on the Sunday talk shows yesterday, incoming House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa today laid out his agenda for the next session of Congress and oversight of the Obama administration.

Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella told TPM that the hearing list so far would focus on these six topics: the impact of regulation on job creation; Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's roles in the foreclosure crisis; the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and the failure to identify the origins of the financial crisis; how to combat corruption in Afghanistan; Wikileaks; and issues of food and drug safety at the FDA. Issa also announced the lineup this morning on his Twitter account. Bardella also emphasized that there was a difference between holding a hearing on a topic and launching an investigation.

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Wikileaks

FBI Raids Business In Investigation Of Attacks Against Enemies Of WikiLeaks

Ryan J. Reilly | January 3, 2011, 10:55AM

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

At the same time that the Justice Department is reportedly looking at options for prosecuting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the FBI raided a Texas business as part of a criminal probe into a computer attack against the enemies of WikiLeaks, the Smoking Gun reported last week.

FBI agents seized a computer server that they believed was used to launch a massive electronic attack on PayPal, which cut off payments to WikiLeaks to the dismay of its supporters, according to an FBI affidavit.

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Julian Assange

Judith Miller Criticizes Assange... For Not Verifying His Sources (VIDEO)

Eric Lach | January 3, 2011, 9:43AM

Judith Miller, the former New York Times reporter who was much criticized for her reporting on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction capabilities in the build-up to war, offered some pretty ironic criticisms of Julian Assange on Fox News this weekend.

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Julian Assange

Assange To Use Autobiography Cash To Cover Legal Bills

Ryan J. Reilly | December 27, 2010, 10:06AM

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is writing an autobiography that he expects to fetch $1.3 million -- funds he will use to fuel his legal defense.

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Allen Stanford

US Diplomats Avoided Allen Stanford Long Before His Arrest

Ryan J. Reilly | December 21, 2010, 12:01PM

Allen Stanford

Long before the feds got him, corrupt Texas financier Allen Stanford was persona non grata in the circles of U.S. diplomats, according to cables released by WikiLeaks, the Guardian reported.

Diplomats were so concerned about the rumors of "bribery, money-laundering and political manipulation" surrounding Stanford that they avoided contac with him or being photographed with him more than two years before his arrest by the FBI for allegedly bilking investors of $7 billion in a huge Ponzi scheme.

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Saturday Night Live

SNL's Julian Assange Bitter Over Time 'Person Of The Year' Snub (VIDEO)

David Taintor | December 20, 2010, 10:42AM

Bill Hader playing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

Saturday Night Live has released yet another tape of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, this time commenting on Time magazine's selection of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as "Person of the Year."

"Time magazine, always on the cutting edge, discovering Facebook only weeks after your grandmother," said Bill Hader, playing Assange, after interrupting a message from Zuckerberg.

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Wikileaks

Biden: Assange Closer To A 'High-Tech Terrorist' Than A Journalist (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | December 20, 2010, 9:26AM

Vice President Joe Biden said on Sunday's "Meet the Press" that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is closer to a terrorist than a journalist.

From the transcript:

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Julian Assange

Wikileaks' Julian Assange Speaks After Release On Bail (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | December 16, 2010, 2:13PM

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was released on bail today, and said in a press conference afterward: "If justice is not always an outcome, at least it is not dead yet."

Assange surrendered to London police over a sex crimes charge in Sweden that was unrelated to Wikileaks' release of State Department cables.

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Wikileaks

Reports: Air Force Blocks NYT, Other News Sites Over Wikileaks

Rachel Slajda | December 14, 2010, 6:07PM

The Air Force is now blocking the web sites of the New York Times, the Guardian, and other news outlets that have posted diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks.

According to the Wall Street Journal and Reuters, the Air Force ordered the sites blocked from personnel computers last month. An Air Force spokeswoman told Reuters that the Air Force "routinely blocks Air Force network access to websites hosting inappropriate materials or malware (malicious software) and this includes any website that hosts classified materials and those that are released by WikiLeaks."

She said 25 sites have been blocked.

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Wikileaks

Assange Granted Bail

Rachel Slajda | December 14, 2010, 10:30AM

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

A British court has granted bail to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, potentially releasing him until his next court appearance Jan. 11.

Reuters, the Guardian and others are reporting that Assange was granted bail after several wealthy supporters, including restaurant designer Sarah Saunders and filmmaker Michael Moore, promised to put up the money.

Assange is fighting extradition to Sweden, where he faces sexual assault charges.

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Saturday Night Live

SNL 'Releases' Julian Assange Prison Tape (VIDEO)

David Taintor | December 13, 2010, 10:05AM

Bill Hader playing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

Saturday Night Live this weekend continued its lampooning of Wikileaks, this time "releasing" grainy footage of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in prison.

"How did I get a camera into a British prison? Maybe you weren't listening, I'm Julian Assange," said SNL's Bill Hader, playing Assange.

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Contractors

State Dept: No One Touched 'Dancing Boy' At DynCorp Party

Rachel Slajda | December 9, 2010, 3:48PM

A still from Frontline's documentary on dancing boys.

Of the Wikileaks cache of diplomatic cables, one of the most potentially salacious is about the entertainment at a party thrown by DynCorp, a U.S. contractor training Afghan police, in April 2009. A 17-year-old boy was hired to dance.

In Afghanistan, hiring "dancing boys" is a long-held practice in which Afghan men hire young men and boys to dress like girls and dance at weddings and other parties. They don't hire girls, because in Afghan society men and women don't mix socially.

The dancing is one thing. But there are other practices associated with the dancing boys. As detailed in a Frontline documentary earlier this year, the boys are sometimes brought to hotels after the parties and prostituted. In some cases, their families sell them to warlords and other prominent Afghanis.

The implication in some of the stories being published now, thanks to the cable just released by Wikileaks, is that the boy hired by DynCorp was likely abused. The cable recounts a meeting in which the then interior minister of Afghanistan begs U.S. diplomats for help keeping the story out of the press, worried, he said, that lives would be in danger.

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Jon Stewart

Daily Show: Wikileaks' Julian Assange Is A Steve Jobs-Lex Luthor Hybrid (VIDEO)

David Taintor | December 9, 2010, 9:54AM

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart last night debated whether Wikileaks found Julian Assange is a villain or super hero, saying "he seems to combine the technical expertise of a Steve Jobs, with the cunning of a Lex Luthor, the aggressive free-speech passions of a Larry Flint and the hair of a Martina Navratilova."

But since Assange recently turned himself in to the police, Stewart said he can't really be a villain. And Assange's legions of supporters around the world make him out to be a hero. Ultimately, Stewart was stumped on how to frame his coverage.

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American Family Association

Social Conservative Bryan Fischer: Blame The Gays For WikiLeaks

David Taintor | December 9, 2010, 8:27AM

Conservative Radio Host Bryan Fischer

Bryan Fischer, the "Director of Issues Analysis" for the conservative Christian group the American Family Association, wrote on his blog this week that gays -- not Julian Assange -- are responsible for the thousands of government documents released by Assange's WikiLeaks.

More specifically, Fischer assumes that the alleged WikiLeaks source Private Bradley Manning was "at minimum" seriously confused about his sexuality. He then really stretches things when he suggests that Manning leaked the documents to wage war on the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.

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Wikileaks

Wikileaks' Processing Co. Says It Will Sue Visa For Stopping Payments

Rachel Slajda | December 8, 2010, 4:52PM

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange

DataCell, the Icelandic company that processes payments to Wikileaks, says it will sue Visa for cutting off payments to the organization.

"DataCell, who facilitates those payments towards WikiLeaks, has decided to take up immediate legal action to make donations possible again," the company's chief executive Andreas Fink said in a statement.

"Visa is hurting WikiLeaks and DataCell in high figures," he said. "Visa users have explicitly expressed their will to send their donations to Wikileaks and Visa is not fulfilling this wish."

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Wikileaks

NYT: DOJ Isn't Investigating Us

Rachel Slajda | December 8, 2010, 9:09AM

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

Although anti-Wikileaks crusader Sen. Joe Lieberman said yesterday that the New York Times' publishing of the leaked cables "bears a very intensive inquiry by the Justice Department," the Times says no such inquiry is, to their knowledge, taking place.

"The New York Times has not been contacted by anyone in law enforcement," a spokeswoman tells TPM.

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Wikileaks

Lieberman: NYT May Have Committed Crime By Publishing Wikileaks Cables (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | December 7, 2010, 1:29PM

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who has become one of the most vocal critics of Wikileaks, said today that while Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is definitely guilty of crimes, the New York Times may also have broken the law by posting some of those diplomatic cables.

"To me, the New York Times has committed at least an act of bad citizenship," Lieberman said on Fox News today. "Whether they've committed a crime, I think that bears very intensive inquiry by the Justice Department."

Lieberman acknowledged that the idea is "sensitive" because "it gets into the First Amendment."

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Wikileaks

MasterCard And Visa To Stop Processing Wikileaks Donations

Rachel Slajda | December 7, 2010, 10:34AM

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

Mastercard and Visa have announced they will stop processing payments to Wikileaks, following similar moves by Amazon.com, PayPal and other businesses who are cutting ties to the organization.

Mastercard Worldwide "is taking action to ensure that WikiLeaks can no longer accept MasterCard-branded products," a spokesman told CNET late yesterday.

"MasterCard rules prohibit customers from directly or indirectly engaging in or facilitating any action that is illegal," the spokesman said.

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Wikileaks

Columbia U To Students: Never Mind, It's Cool If You Look At Wikileaks

Rachel Slajda | December 6, 2010, 1:32PM

Australian journalist Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks.org

As TPM reported on Friday, Columbia University's School of Public and International Affairs sent an email to its students warning them not to link to or comment on the Wikileaks cables if they plan on trying to get a job at the State Department after graduation.

The email was sent by the office of career services and, not surprisingly, caused a stir. Now Threat Level reports that the school has sent a second email to students reassuring them that Columbia fully supports the freedom of expression.

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Wikileaks

SNL Lampoons Wikileaks In TMZ-Style Skit (VIDEO)

David Taintor | December 6, 2010, 10:45AM

SNL's Bill Hader playing Julian Assange

Saturday Night Live over the weekend lampooned the ongoing WikiLeaks saga, floating a new format to reveal the juiciest leaked cables: "WikiLeaks: TMZ."

Sipping from the signature TMZ thermos, Bill Hader (playing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange) asked his staff, "So what do we have today, guys? Looking for world leaders behaving badly. Come on."

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Wikileaks

Assange Routing Donations Through Swiss Mail After Cut Off By PayPal

Rachel Slajda | December 6, 2010, 10:40AM

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, is reportedly soliciting donations through the Swiss postal service after PayPal closed his account.

According to the Associated Press, Assange is also using "a Swiss-Icelandic credit card processing center and other accounts in Iceland and Germany." Iceland is a Wikileaks-friendly country, where politicians have proposed making the country a "journalism haven" for outlets like Wikileaks.

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Wikileaks

Major Defense Contractor Blocks Anything With 'WikiLeaks' In URL

Ryan J. Reilly | December 3, 2010, 7:38PM

The nation's biggest defense contractors, who employ thousands of people with security clearances, are taking steps to restrict their access to Wikileaks, including one company which is blocking employees from accessing any website, including news stories, with "wikileaks" in the URL.

An employee of one major defense contractor told TPM that she wanted to read our report on the Library of Congress blocking access to WikiLeaks, but was unable to do so because the company blocked the webpage.

"I've clicked on a lot of headlines on many different news sites and any link that includes the dreaded letter sequence ends up displaying the company's 'Access Denied' page," the employee wrote.

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Wikileaks

Columbia U To Students: If You Want A Job At State, Don't Link To Wikileaks

Rachel Slajda | December 3, 2010, 6:54PM

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange

Students of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs were warned this week not to spread the Wikileak cables online if they ever wanted a job at the State Department.

The warning came through the office of career services, from an unnamed alumnus who now works at State and wanted to pass along the message.

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