Thread by @Consortiumnews

Day 7 of the #Assange hearing is about to begin.
Our tweets are on this thread.

We'll report live at 5pm BST on #CNLive!

Judge has arrived. James Lewis the prosecutor has revised his time. He will be very short with the first witness, John Goetz. We see him appear onscreen.

John Goetz is a senior investigative journalist with NDR. He worked for @derspiegel from 2007-2011. His reports have won prestigious awards

In 2010 he was asked to meet w/ @Guardian & #JulianAssange to work together, reporting on the war in Afghanistan. He worked in the Bunker

John Goetz: From the @Guardian bunker we would work together & write our own series. At the time such a media partnership was uniques. We also worked with Eric Schmidt from @nytimes.

I worked on the Afghan War Logs, alongside Nick Davies.

MS: So you wrote about Task Force 373.
JG Yes, it was a big story, something like Operation Phoenix. #JulianAssange alerted me to the fact that the material needed to be kept secure.

MS was there an awareness it was sensitive material
JG Absolutely.

MS Describe Mr #Assange's behaviour.
JG Like everyone we were talking about how to understand the material. Julian pre-occupied himself with technical strategies for detecting & redacting names
MS how did the media partners behave re redacting.
JG Eric Schmitt informed Whitehouse

MS How many docs were redacted?
JG 15K
MS Who published first?
JG As far as I know we [@derspiegel] published first. I think we all published before @WIkileaks.
JG Are you aware of any names that slipped through the net?
JG No

MS Tell us now about the Iraq material. Was the redaction process the same?
JG I wasn't so deeply involved but I am aware it developed over time. @Wikileaks redacted more

MS Now for the State Dept cables, I refer to yr 2nd statement. Do you stand by it? Yes but [corrects detail]

MS Your investigation into Khalid El-Masri's plight began when?
JG 206-7. Long time before my involvement w/ @Wikileaks.
MS Tell us abt El Masri's claims.
JG He said he was kidnapped, renditioned & tortured
MS By whom?
JG The CIA

MS How did Khalid El-Masri's case resolve?
JG Munich law enforcement issued an arrest warrant for the 13 CIA agents involved
MS Did they get arrested?
JG No. The warrant wasn't issued in the US. There was a warning that there would be serious repercussions for Germany

MS Tell us about the process of media partnership w/ @Wikileaks.
JG We (the primary media partners) published first. Then there were local partners in different countries who looked for stories specific to their own regions.

MS How secure was the data?
JG Very secure

JS We got a phone call from the State Dept. PJ Crowley was on the line. They expressed concern about some documents. We had the numbers of these documents. We paid particular attention to these in terms of redaction.

State Dept was happy at 1st to talk w// us. Then they stopped.

JS The State Dept were not concerned w/ redacting names. It was incidents they were concerned about.

MS Can you speak about the publication of a code word to the un-redacted bank of cables. Who among the primary media partners did that?

JG That was David Leigh and Luke Harding. They published a book with the password indicated in it.

James Lewis is on his feet. He is objecting to John Goetz being asked about the Moro restaurant conversation. Goetz said that Julian didn't say what was reported by David Leigh, that he didn't care about civilians being harmed.
Baraitser has forbidden the line of questioning.

James Lewis X-exam
Asks JG about the publication of unredacted cables.
First it was Leigh & Harding w/ the password
Then Cryptome.org
Then @Wikileaks

JL Do you accept @Wikileaks published unredacted cable containing names of sources?
JG I don't know if any names

JG asks JL to give him an example of names that were published. JL doesn't give one. Just refers to some cables with "Strictly protect".

JG It was very frustrating that all cables got published. @Wikileaks made a major effort to roll-out stories for a year. Keep control of them.

JL Do you agree @Wikileaks published all the cables in unredacted form?
JG They re-published what was on cryptome.org.
JL Am I correct in assuming @derspiegel deplored the publication of all the cables?
JG Yes, but we didn't know what Leigh & Cyptome had done.

JL did the Whitehouse ask for redactions & were they done?
JG There was an co-operation in place to redact, even w/ the military in Afghanistan

James Lewis seems to have got mixed up between comms re War Logs & cables

JL Did WL ever publish unredacted docs
JG Not that I know of

James Lewis now asking Goetz about #Assange's character, his sense of humour, if he's a great father.

Goetz says he didn't have a personal, familial-type relationship w/ Julian.

Break for 10 minutes.

While we await resumption of JG's X-exam... He has described an initially collaborative process between media partners, military & USG, in terms of redaction. He thinks USG stopped communicating because giving away too much abt what was important.

Mark Summers re-examines John Goetz.
MS Are you aware of any names getting into the public domain during the period of rigorous redaction?
JG No
MS Were you privy to conversations w/ Mr Assange about redacting the cables?
JG Yes
MS Did u see cables w/ names "strictly protect"

JS Strictly protect wasn't so mach attached to names. It was more the cables themselves.

James Lewis says there were cables w/ names marked Strictly Protect

Are you in a position to vouch for media reports about harm caused?

JG This came out in the @xychelsea case. No, no harm

MS Re unredacted cables, you told Mr Lewis that Cryptome published the unredacted cables first. Were they only ones?
JG I think there were others. I remember Cryptome did.
MS Let's talk abt the process of the unredacted cables being published. First the @guardian released PW...

MS Then you say the unredacted cables, w/ the @guardian password, required special knowledge to access. It was accessed & published by cryptome.org and then by @Wikileaks.

JG released from the witness box.

James Lewis objects to details of Khalid El-Masri's rendition & torture being heard in court. He claims it is irrelevant & prejudicial.

Mark Summers said it had not been rejected.

James Lewis wants to argue on the issue of admissibility.

Baraitser warns JL it is a risky path

Long break. It is possible the defence and prosecution are discussing what - & specifically a statement by Khaled-el-Marsi re his CIA kidnapping, rendition & torture - can be read into the court. The prosecution says it has nothing to do w/ the case.

The defence were unable to bring out Goetz's account of what happened at Moro restaurant, where @davidleighx claimed #Assange had said informants deserved to die. Goetz who was present at the table stated in 2012 that Assange did not say that.

https://twitter.com/jlpassarelli/status/1306188609410736130

We have been re-connected to the courtroom. It seems things started some time ago. They are talking about @DanielEllsberg 's written statement. It is not signed. We await Daniel, or possibly @suigenerisjen, acc to some reports.

.@DanielEllsberg is being asked to wait in the virtual lobby

@DanielEllsberg is not in the correct lobby.
"Madame the problem is at our end".

Can you hear us Mr Ellsberg?
Yes

We can't see him.

Ellsberg being sworn in.

#Assange

Edward Fitzgerald asks Ellsberg to confirm that the contents of his 33 para. statement are true.
Confirms he is the author of the Pentagon Papers and his reasons for releasing them. Confirms he was charged under the #EspionageAct - & dismissed w/ prejudice due to gov misconduct

Ellsberg invited to comment on the importance of the @Wikileaks publications.

Asked whether #Assange has political opinions that have relevance in relation to him being prosecuted. For him and me, our opinion disagreed not only w/ current admin but previous ones.

Ellsberg: #Assange & I believed in open government, and that without it, there was no democracy. The Afghan War was a re-run in some ways of the Vietnam war. A war of aggression, endless stalemate & a misinformed public.

The difference between what I revealed & what the Afghan War Logs was that the latter was field reports. For that reason, the common occurrence of war crimes. I released Top Secret docs; the @xychelsea docs were a lower level of classification.

Ellsberg: It shocked me that reports of tort are were no longer considered sensitive.

People thought 'Collateral Murder' was evocative. There was no doubt what I was looking at was murder & a war crime. I was glad the US public was confronted w/ this reality.

MS Asks about the Rules of Engagement. Baraitser objects & asks James Lewis if he wants to object. He says no.

Ellsberg: The RoE gave context. USG said they weren't violated, but when the evidence was revealed, we saw they were.

MS Were you able to cite yr reasons for copying the Pentagon Papers.

DE No, they were deemed irrelevant under the Espionage Act. It is unique in that motive or context will not be heard. Understandable in relation to aiding the enemy in time of war, but not re journalism.

James Lewis
Are you aware #Assange is not being charged for releasing the 'Collateral Murder' video?

Ellsberg
He is charged with publishing the Rules of Engagement. They are a pair.

JL
He is only charged in relation to publishing doc w/ names of informants.

DE
Not so

JL (reads Gordon Kromberg statement) He was charged for publishing names of informants...

JL When you published the PP you were very careful about what you passed to the media?

DE Yes I handed 4 volumes only to the Senate. It was a strategic move to enable negotiations

JL Were there names mentioned in your documents.
DE In one case, yes.

DE I was cautious about NOT editing Pentagon Papers. I left the name in to show I was not editing the documents

JL Asks about Floyd Abrahams?
DE He represented @nytimes in the civil case, not the criminal

JL (reading Floyd Abrahams) makes a point that Ellsberg did not release the diplomatic papers. That, Lewis says, is why @Wikileaks revelations are not like Ellsberg's.

DE Disagree. Not true #Assange & @xychelsea dumped everything. Manning excluded many, #Assange redacted 15K

Ellsberg: The claim of harm was greatly exaggerated. No one was harmed by @Wikileaks revelations. The same was levelled at me.

JL (reading Kromberg) "Many individuals suffered great harm. Journalists, dissidents etc. US attempted to notify informants. Some could not be located"

JL (reading Kromberg re harm caused by @Wikileaks docs) "Some fled their homeland. Some disappeared. An Ethiopian journalist was interrogated. Chinese informants were hounded & harassed by non-state actors. US identified 100s of Afghans affected. "

[Ellsberg listening intently]

Ellsberg: Will I have time to comment on all this?
JL: I just want to list more. Two people in Iran... How can you possibly say there was no harm?

DE: The government was being cynical there, listing these people who wanted removed. Of all these threats, were any carried out?

James Lewis will not answer Ellsberg's question. #Assange is protesting. Baraitser tells him to be quiet.

JL Assange said we're not obligated other people's source. I ask you again, was there no danger caused by WL publications.
DE I presume JA not being prosecuted for comments

Ellsberg Had I read in Kromberg's statement that 100s of people HAD actually been harmed, my response to you would be different.

USG is cynical in pretending concern for the anxiety of 100s, compared to the millions killed by them in the last 19 years.

JL Are you saying no one placed in danger?
Ellsberg Not by Julian Assange or @wikileaks
JL What about those who have disappeared?
I put it to you they have been murdered
Edward Fitzgerald asks James Lewis to cite actual evidence of harm.
JL reads... it says USG can't prove that

JL It said in the book "Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy" that you had a copy of the documents? Is that true?

DE Yes, but there was no agreement about what I would do with it. I kept it for some time and then it was destroyed.

End of X-exam

Edward Fitzgerald. My learned friend asked you about Counts 15,16 & 17. You said there were many other counts, including Count 4 for the Rules of Engagement and obtain / receiving. What do you understand about the purpose behind these other counts?

Baraitser objects to question

EF Do you think @Wikileaks publications had a public interest value?
DE Absolutely
EF When you said you had withheld documents, that was to enable peace talks?
DE Yes

EF You said there is no evidence of any deaths occurring because of @wikileaks?
DE Yes. I was surprised

Ellsberg: 10 years later I am still surprised there was no evidence of harm found, giving how they were all saying "Blood on their hands". I am still capable of being fooled by my gov. I thought there must have been WMDs...

One last question from EF to DE
You have read Mr Kromberg's statement. He does not say any deaths were caused by the @wikileaks revelations. Same conclusion was drawn at the @xychelsea trial.

DE Yes

Ellsberg is thanked profusely by Baraitser!

Tomorrow's witnesses are to be Carey Shenkman & John Sleboda.

There has been an objection to @SMaurizi continuing to report on the hearing because she is a witness.

Session ended.