Joe Lauria

Joe Lauria is a veteran foreign-affairs journalist. He has written for the Boston Globe, the Sunday Times of London and the Wall Street Journal among other newspapers. He is the author of How I Lost By Hillary Clinton published by OR Books in June 2017.

Rudy Giuliani: Julian Assange Should Not Be Prosecuted

Donald Trump’s lawyer recently said that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange should not be prosecuted and compared WikiLeaks publications to the Pentagon Papers.

Joe Lauria
By Joe Lauria
Rudy Giuliani | Julian Assange

Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, said Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange had not done “anything wrong” and should not go to jail for disseminating stolen information just as major media does. “Let’s take the Pentagon Papers,” Giuliani told Fox News. “The Pentagon Papers were stolen property, weren’t they?  It was

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Judge Delays Decision Whether to Unseal Assange Criminal Complaint

The assistant US attorney argued that it is merely speculation that there are already charges against Assange based on anonymous press sources, even though a mistakenly published paragraph clearly speaks of the “fact that Assange has been charged.”

Joe Lauria
By Joe Lauria
WikiLeaks | Katie Townsend

A decision whether to unseal U.S. government charges against Julian Assange was delayed for a week by Judge Leonie Brinkema in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday. In her comments to the court, Judge Brinkema appeared to be siding with the government’s argument that there is no legal precedent for a

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Attempted Break-in at Ecuador Embassy Raises Concerns for Safety of Julian Assange

An attempt was made on Oct. 29 to break into the Ecuadorian embassy, where security has been removed and apparently new surveillance devices installed.

Joe Lauria
By Joe Lauria
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leaves after greeting supporters outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, May 19, 2017 (AP/Frank Augstein)

An attempted break-in at Julian Assange’s residence inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on Oct. 29, and the absence of a security detail, have increased fears about the safety of the WikiLeaks publisher. Lawyers for Assange have confirmed to activist and journalist Suzie Dawson that Assange was awoken in the early morning hours by the

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Daniel Ellsberg: Julian Assange, as a Journalist, Can’t Be Tried Under Espionage Act

“Julian is not a whistle blower per se, but a facilitator of whistleblowing,” Ellsberg said, “…the point being that as a journalist, he can not fairly be tried under the Espionage Act.”

Joe Lauria
By Joe Lauria
Daniel Ellsberg Chelsea Manning

In an interview with Consortium News Editor-in-Chief Joe Lauria, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg says the Espionage Act, under which he was indicted, cannot apply to Julian Assange because he is a journalist.  Speaking during an online vigil for Assange organized by Unity4J.com, Ellsberg told Lauria that the motive for U.S. leaders

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Mainstream Media is Losing Its Mind Over the Trump-Putin Press Conference

The media’s mania over Trump’s Helsinki performance and the so-called Russia-gate scandal reached new depths on Monday, says Joe Lauria.

Joe Lauria
By Joe Lauria
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit at the G20 Summit, July 7, 2017, in Hamburg. (AP/Evan Vucci)

The reaction of the U.S. establishment media and several political leaders to President Donald Trump’s press conference after his summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday has been stunning. Writing in The Atlantic, James Fallows said: There are exactly two possible explanations for the shameful performance the world

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USS Liberty Survivor is Named US Delegate on Gaza Freedom Flotilla

A survivor of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty that killed 34 U.S. sailors has joined the Freedom Flotilla headed towards Gaza, as Joe Lauria reports.

Joe Lauria
By Joe Lauria
USS liberty

Joe Meadors, a survivor of the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty,  has joined the 2018 Gaza Freedom Flotilla as the delegate from the United States. He will board the Al Awda (The Return), which left Corisca Sunday night for  the final 1,000 miles to Gaza.  Al Awda is one of four boats on the 75-day voyage from Scandinavia. Meadors was a

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Democrats Are Putting Partisanship and Power Before Peace

In 1972 Democrats were able to praise Nixon for going to China, but the reaction to Trump’s summit in Singapore shows how far, or not, we’ve come since then, says Joe Lauria.

Joe Lauria
By Joe Lauria
Nancy Pelosi, accompanied by, Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. and Chuck Schumer of N.Y. speaks in a park in Berryville, Va., July 24, 2017, where they unveiled the Democrats new agenda. (AP/Cliff Owen)

When Richard Nixon returned to Washington after his historic 1972 trip to China, he was welcomed with strong support from Democrats. “From the initial Congressional reaction, it was apparent that the President, home from his China trip, would find broad bipartisan support for his move toward closer relations with Peking,” The New York

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