The DNC's Lawsuit Against WikiLeaks Is an Attack on the Freedom of the Press
It's a large world, filled with felonies big and misdemeanors small. And so I prefer to write long columns. But sometimes a short, sharp word is necessary. The Democratic Party is suing WikiLeaks and they shouldn't. As Glenn Greenwald wrote last week in The Intercept:
The Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit this afternoon in a Manhattan federal court against the Russian government, the Trump campaign, and various individuals it alleges participated in the plot to hack its email servers and disseminate the contents as part of the 2016 election. The DNC also sued WikiLeaks for its role in publishing the hacked materials, though it does not allege that WikiLeaks participated in the hacking or even knew in advance about it; its sole role, according to the DNC's lawsuit, was publishing the hacked emails.
As Greenwald points out, the Dems' claim that "WikiLeaks is liable for damages it caused when it 'willfully and intentionally disclosed' the DNC's communications ... would mean that any media outlet that publishes misappropriated documents or emails (exactly what media outlets quite often do) could be sued by the entity or person about which they are reporting."
After the Manning releases in 2010, the Obama Justice Department wanted to sue WikiLeaks. However, they couldn't prove that anyone from WikiLeaks had actually stolen documents. They knew that suing WikiLeaks would have infringed on press freedom. Sue WikiLeaks, and you have to sue the Washington Post as well.
The DNC has no such qualms now.
Also at Al Jazeera.
See also: Why the DNC Is Fighting WikiLeaks and Not Wall Street
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 03 2018, @12:06AM (2 children)
You, Sir, are drinking the Kool-Aid, and believing the narrative. Do you not understand that the Kool-Aid is laced with drugs?
The intent may or may not be important in journalism. But this whole "vast right wing conspiracy" that Hillary promoted is so much bullshit. What happens when a conspiracy grows large? It gets exposed - just like the DNC conspiracy to usurp the will of the people. The DNC conspiracy has been exposed, so they double down on the "vast right wing conspiracy". Utter bullshit.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Thursday May 03 2018, @01:08AM
Utter bullshit.
Yep, and it's working like a charm. They got the whole world doing the *Russia Russia Russia* jig... And they will still successfully keep Congress evenly split between them and their tag team partner, the republicans. The voters choose between evil and crazy. That's where the Golden Ticket is.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 03 2018, @06:41AM
Ya gotta wonder, when Runaway8309 says something like this, that perhaps there is "vast right wing conspiracy", and the Runaway, knowingly or most likely otherwise, is part of it. Tell us more, Runaway. Tell us about the cattle, and the hogs, and the Pizza Pong-ping Ching-chang!!!