Lawsuit Against CIA/Pompeo For Assange Surveillance!

By Neenah Payne

Court Date Set For Julian Assange’s Final Appeal To Avoid US Extradition explained on December 20 that “Julian Assange will face two High Court judges over two days on Feb. 20-21, 2024 in London in what will likely be his last appeal against being extradited to the United States to face charges of violating the Espionage Act.”

“It’s Disgusting What They’re Doing”: Tucker Carlson Describes Visit With Julian Assange reported on 12/23/23:

As Julian Assange approaches his “final” appeal against extradition to the United States, where he faces some 18 counts related to the release of vast troves of damning and embarrassing evidence against the US government, the 52-year-old WikiLeaks founder received a visit from Tucker Carlson to discuss his situation.

Carlson describes Assange as “one of the greatest journalists of our age,” who has “spent his adult life bringing previously concealed facts to the public about what our leaders are doing….What’s more, Carlson noted how a fabricated, media-amplified sexual assault charge in Sweden was used against Assange, who spent more than seven years in asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. And when he exposed the CIA’s spying apparatus, former CIA Director Mike Pompeo discussed kidnapping or assassinating him while not being charged with any crime in the US at the time.

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Carlson pointed out that although Assange has committed no crimes, for over four years, he has been in a maximum-security prison used to jail murderers! Assange is waiting now for the decision about the appeal to extradite him to the US where he faces 175 years in prison. Julian Assange: The Trial of The Century shows the importance of this case for journalism and democracy. Calls Grow To Release Julian Assange explains that people around the world are calling for Assange’s release – including both sides of the aisle in the US Congress and the Prime Minister of Australia.

Huge News: Lawsuit Against CIA

Attorneys and Journalists Illegally Searched During Visits with Julian Assange Sue CIA and Michael Pompeo explains that US attorneys and US journalists who were illegally spied on in violation of the Fourth Amendment while meeting with Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London launched a lawsuit against Mike Pompeo as well as the Spanish security firm UC Global. Pompeo was the CIA Director from 2017-2018 and became Trump's Secretary of State in April 2018.

Brother of Julian Assange, Gabriel Shipton, weighs in on a lawsuit Assange allies have brought to the CIA. Originally aired December 20, 2023.

CIA Loses Bid to Throw Out Lawsuit for Violating Rights of Julian Assange’s Visitors at Ecuadorean Embassy 12/23/23

Case Sets Stage for Exposing CIA Clandestine Surveillance of Attorneys and Journalists

In a stunning decision on December 19, a federal court in New York ruled that attorneys and journalists may pursue their civil complaint against the Central Intelligence Agency. The plaintiffs allege their constitutional rights were violated by illegal surveillance during their visits with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange between January 2017 and March 2018 at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he had been granted asylum.

The 27-page decision in Kunstler v CIA, written by US District Judge John G. Koeltl, denied the CIA’s motion to dismiss the case. This important ruling sets the stage for the plaintiffs to gather documentary evidence and take depositions under oath exposing the details of the CIA’s alleged wrongdoing. The result may be a public trial as early as next year. The case presents a rare opportunity for the clandestine operations of the CIA – an agency that prides itself on secrecy – to be subjected to public scrutiny and accountability.

Charge: CIA Illegally Obtained Information

Judge APPROVES Lawsuit Against CIA & Pompeo Over Assange Surveillance! 12/29/23

Richard Roth is the lead attorney suing the CIA and former CIA head Mike Pompeo for spying on journalists and lawyers for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange while he was living in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. A judge recently ruled that the lawsuit can go forward, rejecting the CIA’s contention that copying data from the visitors’ electronic devices was perfectly aboveboard. Watch Jimmy’s interview with Roth about the case and the outrageous CIA overreach in the Assange case.

Jimmy Dore points out in the video above that Assange is on trial and has been held in a maximum-security prison for over four years for allegedly illegally obtaining information from the government. However, this case shows that the government illegally obtained information from attorneys, doctors, and others who visited Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy where he sought asylum for seven years to avoid extradition to the US!

Richard Roth of The Roth Law Firm points out that the US government wants to put Assange in jail for 75 years for doing what it is doing – what Mike Pompeo directed it to do. He explains that Pompeo said in his first speech as the Director of the CIA that he wanted to bring down Assange. Dore points out that Pompeo is an errand boy for the US military/industrial complex. He says Pompeo reportedly had a plan to have Assange assassinated!

Roth says Pompeo will be deposed about the alleged assassination attempt! Pompeo ignored subpoenas served by the Spanish government, but the CIA cannot an order by a US Federal Court judge. Discovery is the next step in this case and the CIA will probably reply with tens of thousands of documents. The federal government is trying to put Assange in jail for alleged violations of the Espionage Act. That same government copied data from laptops and cell phones of Assange’s visitors which is a violation of the Fourth Amendment! It also taped conversations of Assange meeting with his lawyer who is defending

Mike Pompeo and CIA Humiliated By WikiLeaks

New York Times: Mike Pompeo, Once a WikiLeaks Fan, Attacks It as Hostile Agent 4/13/17. The article below discusses Vault 7. Wikileaks Vault 7: What's in the CIA Hacking Toolbox? explains the importance of Vault 7.

CIA officials under Trump discussed assassinating Julian Assange – report says:

The discussions on kidnapping or killing Assange took place in 2017, Yahoo News reported, when the fugitive Australian activist was entering his fifth year sheltering in the Ecuadorian embassy. The then CIA director, Mike Pompeo, and his top officials were furious about WikiLeaks’ publication of “Vault 7”, a set of CIA hacking tools, a breach which the agency deemed to be the biggest data loss in its history.

Pompeo and the CIA leadership “were completely detached from reality because they were so embarrassed about Vault 7”, Yahoo cites a former Trump national security official as saying. “They were seeing blood.” Some senior officials inside the CIA and the Trump administration went as far as to request “sketches” or “options” for killing Assange. “There seemed to be no boundaries,” a former senior counterterrorist official was quoted as saying. The CIA declined to comment. The kidnapping or murder of a civilian accused of publishing leaked documents, with no connection to terrorism, would have triggered global outrage.

Pompeo raised eyebrows in 2017 by referring to WikiLeaks as a “non-state hostile intelligence service”. The Yahoo report said that it was a significant designation, as it implied a green light for a more aggressive approach to the pro-transparency group by CIA operatives, who could treat it as an enemy espionage organization.

Barry Pollack, Assange’s US lawyer, did not respond to a request for comment, but told Yahoo News:

“As an American citizen, I find it absolutely outrageous that our government would be contemplating kidnapping or assassinating somebody without any judicial process simply because he had published truthful information. My hope and expectation is that the UK courts will consider this information and it will further bolster its decision not to extradite to the US,” he added.

Ron Paul Interviews Julian Assange: "The CIA Has Been Deeply Humiliated" 4/28/17

Pompeo Served With Lawsuit

Violation of the Fourth Amendment and conspiracy to commit murder are much more serious charges than publishing the truth. Tucker Carlson asks in the video below, “Why is Mike Pompeo not in prison?”

Spanish Court Summons Mike Pompeo over CIA Plot to Kidnap or Kill Julian Assange 6/6/22

“A Spanish court has reportedly summoned former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to testify about a secret U.S. plot to kidnap or assassinate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, according to a report in the Spanish newspaper ABC. The Spanish court is probing the activity of UC Global, a Spanish security firm accused of spying on Assange while he was living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he had political asylum. The news comes as British Home Secretary Priti Patel is expected to decide soon whether Assange should be extradited to the United States to face charges for publishing classified information about U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

"MIKE POMPEO TRIED TO HAVE JULIAN ASSANGE MURDERED," WITH TUCKER CARLSON (video) 12/6/23

Mike Pompeo Served With Lawsuit While Filming Green Screen Video 11/3/22

CIA spying on Assange "illegally" swept up US lawyers, journalists: Lawsuit 8/15/22

CIA surveillance of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange while he was sheltering in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London included recording his conversations with American lawyers, journalists and doctors, and copying private data from visitors' phones and other devices, violating constitutional protections, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

The suit – filed on behalf of four Americans who visited Assange – seeks damages personally from then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo for violating the plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. The suit also seeks damages against a Spanish security firm contracted to protect the embassy, and its CEO, alleging that they abused their position to illegally spy on visitors and passed on the surveillance data they collected to the CIA, which is also named a defendant in the suit.

Legal experts, including a former senior intelligence official, told Newsweek that the allegations in the lawsuit, if proven, show the CIA crossed lines drawn to protect American citizens from surveillance by overzealous intelligence agencies…."As a criminal attorney, I don't think that there's anything worse than your opposition listening in on what your plans are, what you intend to do, on your conversations. It's a terrible thing," said the lead plaintiff, attorney Margaret Kunstler, a member of Assange's U.S. legal team. "It's gross misconduct," she added, "I don't understand how the CIA ... could think that they could do this. It's so outrageous that it's beyond my comprehension." New York-based attorney Richard Roth, who filed the suit, said, "This was outrageous and inappropriate conduct by the government. It violated the most profound privacy rights'' of the plaintiffs and others who visited Assange in the embassy.

CIA sued over alleged spying on lawyers, journalists who met Assange 8/15/22

A group of journalists and lawyers sued the CIA and its former director Mike Pompeo over allegations the intelligence agency spied on them when they visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during his stay in Ecuador's embassy in London. The lawsuit said that CIA under Pompeo violated the privacy rights of those American journalists and lawyers by allegedly spying on them. The plaintiffs include journalists Charles Glass and John Goetz and attorneys Margaret Kunstler and Deborah Hrbek, who have represented Assange.

"The United States Constitution shields American citizens from U.S. government overreach even when the activities take place in a foreign embassy in a foreign country," said Richard Roth, the lead attorney representing the plaintiffs. The CIA, which declined to comment on the lawsuit, is prohibited from collecting intelligence on U.S. citizens, although several lawmakers have alleged that the agency maintains a secret repository of Americans' communications data.

Assange has appealed to the High Court in London to block his extradition to the United States to face criminal charges in a legal battle that has dragged on for more than a decade. read more Monday's lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The filing said the journalists and lawyers were required to surrender their electronic devices to Undercover Global S.L., a private security company which at the time provided security to the embassy, before their visits to Assange. The lawsuit alleged the company copied that information and provided it to the CIA, which was then headed by Pompeo.

Extradition Ping Pong

Julian Assange cannot be extradited to US, British judge rules reported in January 2021: “Judge says it would be ‘oppressive’ to extradite WikiLeaks founder to US, citing concerns for his mental health.”

However, in December 2021, the US appealed that ruling and won. The case then went back to the Westminster Magistrates Court where the extradition request was sent to the with UK Home Secretary Priti Patel for review. Although Pompeo is not part of the Biden administration, he took the extraordinary step of going to London in June 2022 to meet with Patel before she decided on the appeal.

Priti Patel approves the extradition of Julian Assange shows that in June 2022 Patel reversed the decision of the earlier court. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the decision to extradite Assange after the courts found that extradition would not be “incompatible with his human rights”. This is in spite of the fact that the leaked documents show US officials discussed assassinating Assange in 2017.

https://twitter.com/Stella_Assange/status/1542578480734420993
- Stella_Assange

The Trial of the Century

Julian Assange In The Crosshairs | The Lawsuit Against The CIA and Mike Pompeo’s Attempt To Kill Him

Julian Assange: The Trial of The Century explains that although Julian Assange is not charged with any crime, he has been held in London’s Belmarsh Prison since 2019 under conditions which a UN investigator described as torture. Assange is being punished for publishing the truth about US war crimes in the Middle East during the endless “War on Terror”. If Assange is extradited, he faces 175 years in jail in the US although he is not a US citizen.

This prolonged assault on Assange is intended to be a warning to other journalists of what they will face if they expose US crimes. However, the US Founding Fathers protected Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press with the First Amendment because they wanted the press to serve as The Fourth Estate – a check and balance on the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government. So, in holding the CIA accountable for war crimes and exposing government corruption, Assange is fulfilling the media’s role to protect democracy.

Julian Assange writes letter to King Charles and urges him to visit Belmarsh prison reports:

On Friday, the Australian opposition leader, Peter Dutton, agreed with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, that the detention of Assange needed to come to an end. For the first time in more than a decade, the leaders of Australia’s major political parties both publicly back a diplomatic intervention in the case, with Albanese saying “enough is enough” and Dutton agreeing it has “gone on too long”

February 20-21 Hearing on Extradition

Roth believes Assange will be extradited to the US to be tried here. However, Assange’s wife Stella has warned that Assange might commit suicide rather than face the possibility of 75 years in jail in the US. The UK Denies Julian Assange's Extradition, Citing Suicide Risk shows that in January 2021, a UK judge ruled against extradition for that reason. Nevertheless, that ruling was reversed on appeal.

U.K. Court Rules Julian Assange Can Be Extradited to U.S. reported in December 2021 that a British judge ruled Assange could be extradited to the United States on espionage charges!

Julian Assange's 'final' appeal against U.S. extradition to be held in February reported on 12/19/23:

a public hearing would take place at the High Court on Feb. 20-21 when two judges will review an earlier ruling which had refused Assange permission to appeal. The two-day hearing may be the final chance for Julian Assange to prevent his extradition to the United States.

Assange Trial Sets Dangerous Precedent

In attempting to extradite and try Assange, the US is setting a dangerous precedent that means any country can charge and extradite any journalist who exposes its crimes. Although the US and England present themselves as democracies, they are not following the rule of law in this case.

Obama refused to prosecute Assange because the case poses grave threat to freedom of the press since the New York Times published the same materials about US war crimes in the Middle East.

The Obama DOJ – despite launching notoriously aggressive attacks on press freedoms – recognized this critical principle when it came to WikiLeaks. It spent years exploring whether it could criminally charge Assange and WikiLeaks for publishing classified information. It ultimately decided it would not do so, and could not do so, consistent with the press freedom guarantee of the First Amendment.

After all, the Obama DOJ concluded, such a prosecution would pose a severe threat to press freedom because there would be no way to prosecute Assange for publishing classified documents without also prosecuting the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian and others for doing exactly the same thing.

Biden was Vice President during the Obama administration. Why is he pursuing the case against Assange? Top media outlets demand US end prosecution of Julian Assange:

This indictment sets a dangerous precedent and threatens to undermine America’s First Amendment and the freedom of the press,” wrote the editors and publishers of The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El Pais. “Holding governments accountable is part of the core mission of a free press in a democracy.