(AG) Holder: 'Significant' actions taken in WikiLeaks investigation

[sabra]

Source: CNN

Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday that he has authorized "significant" actions related to the criminal investigation of WikiLeaks as the website faces increasing pressure worldwide for publishing sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables.

"National security of the United States has been put at risk," Holder said. "The lives of people who work for the American people have been put at risk. The American people themselves have been put at risk by these actions that I believe are arrogant, misguided and ultimately not helpful in any way. We are doing everything that we can."

His comments came as a Swiss bank announced that it had closed the account of Julian Assange, the website's founder, dealing a second financial blow to the site in a matter of days.

Read more: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/06/holder-significant-actions-taken-in-wikileaks-investigation/

[villager]

1. Ah, so *now* we see what gets this administration to take "significant" action

quite telling, actually...

[Cassandra]

9. That was exactly what ran through my head.

[lunatica]

76. It was my first thought too

Holder is turning out to be nothing more than a tool without any initiative on his part. That's not his job. But I guess the Administration needs to have it's top 'prosecutor' to protect it. Up to now his big threats have been to prosecute marijuana growers and dispensaries.

[mbperrin]

2. Meanwhile, let's ignore those who tortured and killed children in our name.

The crime is not the act, but the telling.

That's what I must conclude.

I really do hope there is a hell, like those oldtime preachers said. If not, it would be a shame, because nobody is going to do anything to the powerful criminals running the world right now.

[Hissyspit]

17. Here' a website for Mr. Holder:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9702121&mesg_id=9702121

WikiLeaks revealed Al-Qaeda's deadly exploitation of children in Iraq.
October 23rd, 2010
http://www.iraqwarlogs.com/2010/10/23/al-qaeda%E2%80%99s-deadly-exploitation-of-children//div]

[goforit]

3. Yah, but its OK for all CEOs and 3 branches of gov't to break laws.

NO THANK YOU HOLDER!!!!

[dixiegrrrrl]

51. Holder represented Chiquita, which was fined for the deaths of over 4,000 Columbians

"Representing Chiquita, Holder brokered a deal for the banana giant to pay $25m over five years to the justice department. This arrangement was made after Chiquita admitted in 2003 to providing $1.7m over six years to the paramilitary group The United Self Defense Forces of Colombia. This group was listed as a terrorist organisation by the state department. Chiquita also allegedly provided a cache of surplus Nicaraguan army AK-47s through their own transport network. The payments continued unabated for months after Chiquita's admission.

The company claimed the payments were made to protect its workers, but it is unclear who was protected. Colombia's attorney general, Mario Iguaran, roundly rejects Chiquita's excuses. Iguaran believes the payments were made to secure the unimpeded production of bananas and to quell labour unrest. He claims that at least 4,000 people were killed by these paramilitaries. Hundreds of the victims were banana workers and labour organisers. Iguaran wishes to extradite the Chiquita executives responsible for approving the payments and a lawsuit is currently underway representing the families of 173 workers who were killed by the paramilitaries. Holder continues to represent Chiquita in the resulting civil case."
( this was written November 2008 when Obama was going to choose Holder for DOJ)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/nov/25/attornery-general-eric-holder-chiquita

[saigon68]

74. Holder is the servant holding the door for Corporate Criminals

[mike_c]

4. I have lost whatever residual respect I have for the Obama administration...

...over it's response to this matter. WikiLeaks is performing the function that is constitutionally guaranteed to a free press. Rather than persecute the messenger, the administration should act upon the leaks as revelations of wrongdoing when appropriate, and simply take it's embarrassment as due, otherwise.

Instead, what we're seeing is the response of a despot. A government whose self interest in maintaining power exceeds its duty to do the right thing.

[rubberducky]

22. I have been totally blown away by this country`s response to Wikileaks.

Wall street mess, mortgage mess, TWO very fucked up wars (occupations), 10% unemployed, netted absolutely NOTHING from this gov.. But a little foreign messenger touting the TRUTH has them shittin` and gittin`. Laws are only for us little folks it seems, keeps us in check, don`t ya know. What a very fucked up country this has become. This is why I have so encouraged my son to leave it.

[girl gone mad]

47. Same here.

We're making China look like a paragon of freedoms.

[Blue_Tires]

61. I've been surprised at how universally bi-partisan and unified the effort has been

don't think i've seen anything like it since the 9-11 aftermath....

[Iowa]

53. +1.

[GodlessBiker]

5. And what about the news outlets (NYT and others) which reported on Wikileaks...

and from whom the vast majority of people obtained their knowledge of what was in the data dump?

Holder has a double standard. Let's attack the solitary foreigner rather than the corporate giants who actually disseminated the information.

[thereismore]

6. As long as you go after the real criminals, I am sooo happy!

:puke:

[HereSince1628]

7. Gee, he doesn't talk that way about the bankster frauds. I guess

this is REALLY gonna hurt the American people.

memo to self: put on scared face.

[notesdev]

8. is panicked ass covering a significant action? n/t

[pacalo]

10. I wish he had shown such diligence in investigating the boy king & his Nixon mentor.

Aside from the war atrocities, they are the ones whose ill-conceived policies ruined the economy.

But he's a pit bull when it comes to the person who is trying to hold corrupt politicians accountable for such policies.

Fail.

[golddigger]

11. Respect went out the window as of now

with this administration.

[somone]

12. Maybe he means enhanced coercive interrogation technique

will be utilized in an effective manner to protect the homeland

[JDPriestly]

13. So, Holder does nothing about the Bush administration torturers,

nothing in terms of criminal actions about the fraud by the banks and mortgage companies, nothing about violations of the Fourth Amendment by the Bush and Obama administrations, but Wikileaks, on that he acts swiftly.

What law did Assange break that he was required to obey? I can't figure it out. What did he do that was wrong?

Do we still have a free press?

On edit, looks like the US is going to try to get Switzerland or some other country to file fraud charges.

Now do you remember the scandal about American high-rollers who had place money in I think it was UBS as an illegal tax shelter? I wonder whether they also lied about their addresses and committed fraud when they set up the accounts? If they go after Assange for fraudulently reporting his address on his bank account application, shouldn't they also go after all those American tax evaders for the same thing?

[girl gone mad]

48. Only the whistle blower in the UBS case is sitting in jail. n/t

[indimuse]

14. Really? What about Bush and Cheney??n/t

[Frisbee]

15. Can somebody tell me...

has there been even ONE case of somebody in the government talking about going after ANYONE who has committed a criminal act based on info from Wikileaks? I am going to assume that if the info on the banksters ever sees the light of day (which I am being to doubt it will), there will also be no repercussions for the criminals. Looks like Julian is the only one who WILL suffer any consequences from all of this. The country the founders envisioned is dead.

[24601]

56. PFC Manning will likely suffer consequences as well. n/t

[lamp_shade]

16. Whichever country gets him, I'm looking forward to the frog march.

[Hissyspit]

19. Yeah, because this stuff is all peachy keen:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9702121&mesg_id=9702121

WikiLeaks revealed allegations of U.S. troops abusing Iraqi prisoners even after Abu Ghraib.
October 23rd, 2010
http://www.iraqwarlogs.com/2010/10/23/secret-files-reveal-allegations-of-prisoner-abuse-by-american-troops-after-abu-ghrai/

[cpwm17]

37. The authoritarians

are on the march. They couldn't care much less about the real crimes being reported.

This is scary stuff.

[IScreamSundays]

18. Well I would think that "significant" means they plan on

issuing an international arrest warrant. So once he is taken into custody, that is where he will stay. Cue the "Poison Pill".

[Angry Dragon]

20. Here is contact information

Office of the Attorney General Public Comment Line - 202-353-1555

E-mails to the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General, may be sent to [e-mail]. E-mails will be forwarded to the responsible Department of Justice component for appropriate handling.

[Hawkeye-X]

21. So your investigation on Wiki has higher precedence on oh, say, war crimes of * and Darth

I think Eric Holder's priorities are completely wrong.

He should be investigating * and his entire maladminsitration for illegal squatting of the White House and war crimes.

Hawkeye-X

[Boudica the Lyoness]

23. I heard on MSNBC this morning

that if US college students post links to WikiLeaks on their FB, they will be prevented from ever holding a job in the government. Did anyone else hear that?

[Arrowhead2k1]

27. Yes, but I think it's a hollow threat.

First of all, it would be an awful waste of talent if otherwise good people were turned away just because they posted the wrong links in their private lives at some point. The government would be hurting themselves more than anyone else by using such a policy.

Second, are they really so stupid to actually be wasting resources and our tax dollars tracking such petty nonsense? Wait, don't answer that!

[The Second Stone]

24. Saudi citizens funding actual violence and terrorism

don't get this kind of treatment. It is interesting to see what can be done when the government is frightened rather than the people.

[snagglepuss]

42. Nail meeet hammer. That is the clincher isnt't it. Zero retaliation against the

Saudis but massive no holds bar attack against non-violent wikileaks.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lamp_shade]

33. bookmarked

[cpwm17]

45. I Voted

for the wrong guy.

[gratuitous]

26. Why is he lookin' backwards to the past?

AG Holder should be looking forward to the future! What's the sense of investigating anything? Naturally, what they're willing to investigate is who brought this information forward; the substance of the documents - that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been authorized at the highest levels and committed by our people - remains off limits.

[Solly Mack]

29. Exactly.

[democrank]

28. Hey Eric...

How about "significant actions" on the war criminals, Junior and Cheney?

[madrchsod]

30. oh no! eric is getting his feathers all ruffled up

funny bush and crew can violate the geneva conventions and eric says so what.

[myrna minx]

31. It's too bad he doesn't care about the egregious things these leaks *expose*

just the fact that the great unwashed know about it. :puke:

[Kaleko]

52. And thus the true priorities of this administration are exposed.

The last glimmer of hope I had for the Obama admin to turn this shipwreck around died today.

[hootinholler]

32. "The lives of people who work for the American people have been put at risk."

Name one Eric. Just one specific person who's life has been jeopardized. Well, ok exclude the war criminals, oh wait, you're not gonna touch them so they're safe.

So, who was it?

-Hoot

[EFerrari]

34. Now we know that "natioanal security" means "government CYA".

[truth2power]

40. Yes it does. No more. No less....

And the US govt. seems to be in sheer-terror mode. I wonder why? What could be disclosed that would be even worse than banking scandals? Hmmm...

[EFerrari]

44. I don't think it's any one thing. It's their M.O. being exposed

so thoroughly.

[truth2power]

63. I think if certain players involved in 9/11 were exposed it could

bring this country to it's knees.

[Pavulon]

64. Ugg, mihop delusions. only thing assange got right was hating those fucking people

he is on record stating how fucking stupid they are. If he had just stuck to fucking with banks I would buy the man a beer for his effort.

[Joanne98]

35. Holder steps up on leaked cables

Source: Politico

Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday that he has authorized a “number of things to be done” in response to the leak of classified documents by the whistleblower WikiLeaks.

Speaking to reporters, Holder called the release of State Department cables showing diplomats’ private conversations “arrogant” and “misguided.” He argued that national security had been “put at risk.”

“The lives of people who work for the American people has been put at risk,” he said. “The American people themselves have been put at risk by these actions that I believe are arrogant, misguided and ultimately not helpful in any way.”

Holder said he put forth “a number of things to be done” last week to get to the bottom of the release, to “hold people accountable, as they should be.”



Read more: http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/1210/arrogant_9b113c28-4234-420d-9820-0ecdc367604e.html

---

Cheney is wanted too, has he stepped up on that yet?

[NightWatcher]

36. so go after the leakers or correct the shity behavior that is being exposed?

[truth2power]

38. Amazing how Holder can get his sh*t together to bring the hammer down

on Assange, but can't do anything about Cheney/Bush, Yoo and the rest of those vermin. Holder is a worthless POS.

I hope Assange dumps everything. Our entire govt. is a criminal enterprise. We need to know what they're up to.

[glitch]

43. He's also very badass on medical marijuana facilities

and the vicious terrorists that run them. :sarcasm:

[suffragette]

39. Anyone else find it interesting

how secretive Holder's statement is?

"he has authorized "significant" actions"
What does that mean?
Later , he "declined to answer questions" and "declined to comment" when asked for specifics.


Oh well, he's being consistent. So much for transparency.


Elsewhere, we can see some actions being taken through reporting of them in other countries:
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/Pressure_mounts_on_WikiLeaks_and_Assange.html?cid=28956246

The United States ambassador to Switzerland, Donald Beyer, has also entered the Wikileaks debate. He has warned the Swiss government against granting Assange asylum, which the Australian founder of Wikileaks has said he was considering requesting.

“Switzerland should very carefully consider whether to provide shelter to someone who is on the run from the law,” Beyer told the newspaper Sonntag. The ambassador referred to the arrest warrant for Assange issued by Interpol. He is being sought in Sweden on rape charges.

In an interview with another newspaper, the SonntagsZeitung, Beyer said he had told Swiss government representatives what to expect from the more than 250 cables - held by Wikileaks – sent from the American embassy in Bern to Washington.

Beyer said he assured the Swiss government that US-Swiss relations would remain friendly. “Both sides are aware of how close Switzerland and the US are.”


Got to wonder if ambassadors to other countries are doing similar.

[bemildred]

49. Mr Holder is blathering to make himself look important and in control.

If he was actually doing something, he would not be warning anybody about it.

[suffragette]

55. Good point

[EFerrari]

73. He is doing something. He's proving CYA for

the bullies who are attacking Assange. Now they can say whatever they did was part of an investigation.

[EFerrari]

72. Eric Holder is providing cover for the extra legal atack on Julian Assange.

[suffragette]

78. Astute observation

The vagueness of what Holder said lends itself to making whatever up as needed.
The ambassador to Switzerland made sure that escape route was closed (and who knows how much more of that was done behind scenes in that and other countries).
They've cornered him and look to be funneling him toward Sweden.
It's looking dire.

[City Lights]

41. Now that you're looking backward, do something significant about the Bush Gang!

[Alamuti Lotus]

70. besides cover up for them, of course? *nt

[Volaris]

46. Oh please....

The American People, as a People, have been "at risk" on the world stage since we declared ourselves independent from the king of England...that action threatens every tyrant and warlord this planet has seen since. We are used to Risk, it comes with living in a free and open society...

[truebrit71]

50. I see, don't go after the torturers, go after the ones that tell the world about the torture...

..."Change" my arse....:grr:

[sabrina 1]

54. I was hoping he was going to start an investigation into the State Dept's

violations of the Espionage laws. It appears they have illegally used the State Dept. to conduct espionage against UN member states AND the Secretary General of the UN.

Holder has nothing to say about that?

How about the torturers, who actually did kill people?

The war criminals who killed hundreds of thousands?

Don Siegelmann who was unjustly persecuted for political reasons?

How about those who brought down this economy, the corrupt mortgage scandal hasn't gotten his attention>

Seems the job of the U.S. AG has been redefined. His job is to protect the powerful from being subject to the law.

But he has time for a news media outlet and if he thinks anyone is fooled by their desperate attempts to cover their tracks, he really doesn't get it. The people are not stupid, they were just uninformed. And we all know they'd like to keep it that way.

[Kaleko]

57. In response to your last sentence, two quotes:

"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media."

~ William Colby, CIA Director from Sept. 1973 to Jan. 1976 under Presidents Nixon and Ford.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false."

~ William Casey, CIA Director from 1981 to 1987. (Quote from internal staff meeting notes 1981)

Casey headed up the successful presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and served on the transition team following the election. After Reagan took office, he named Casey to the post of Director of the CIA.

According to a 600-page report by the CIA inspector general, Frederick Hintz, the CIA under Casey was complicit in the Contras' massive narco-trafficking operation which resulted in the crack epidemic.

[sabrina 1]

58. Thank you for the information. I believe it. There is no other reason

why, with all that was known about Iraq and WMDs, the press in this country remained silent or worse, was complicit in the lies.

And that is why we need a real free, independent press like Wikileaks.

[Kaleko]

59. With you 100 %. And thank you for many of the most informative posts around here!

[Lucinda]

60. So...lets keep track...what significant acts:

1. Master Card wont allow donations
2. Paypal wont allow donations


What am I missing so far?

[Matilda]

62. Gillard "Prejudicing Assange's right to trial".

"This morning Ms Gillard said: "Let's not try and put any glosses on this. It would not happen, information would not be on WikiLeaks if there had not been an illegal act undertaken."

(snip)

From Liberty Victoria president Stefan Zifcak:

"One can imagine the reaction of a jury on hearing the person whose trial they're involved in has been said by the Prime Minister to be guilty. I'm really very surprised by it.

"There is no charge, there is no trial, there is no properly constituted court, and yet the Prime Minister deems it appropriate to say that Mr Assange has committed a criminal offence.

"That is a statement without foundation, it pre-empts the outcome of any proceedings, it denies him the presumption of innocence and it prejudices his right to fair trial."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/07/3086962.htm

So glad to see that a legal expert has come out against Gillard on this. As a lawyer herself, she should know better. She's just dancing to the tune of her puppet-master, the U.S.

[sabrina 1]

65. What she just said was that any news organization that publishes

information from whistle-blowers, even though they are doing what the press is supposed to do, inform the public, are now criminals.

This is a whole new problem for the press everywhere. I really hope that News Organizations will demand clarification of this new rule making them guilty of a crime if they publish information they receive from people like Daniel Elsberg. Was the press considered criminal when they published the Pentagon Papers?

This really is an outrageous statement from her.

[MisterP]

66. what, is he going to release the death squads hired by Chiquita (which corporation he defended?) nt

[Catherina]

67. Disgusting n/t

[BlueIris]

68. Good luck with that, Mr. Holder.

There will be no saving what you want to save. It is done for. Long gone. Update your resume.

[Imagevision]

69. Holder, being laughed at by Karl Rove & Gonzalez

[Bluebear]

71. This is what it took to get the White House exercised about something.

Not torture, not war crimes.

[Bo]

75. .....what about the illegal wars?

any action there?

[truth2power]

77. But outing Valerie Plame is OK I guess. Holder is worthless,

like so many of those Pres. Obama appointed.