Thread by @Consortiumnews

We'll be connecting to the #Assange courtroom soon & live tweeting on this thread. Today's witness is expected to be Andy Worthington.

See you at 5pm BST for Joe Lauria @unjoe's account of the day's proceedings.

Court in session.
Statement from journalist Patrick Cockburn, Middle-East correspondent & writer on wars in Iraq & Afghanistan since 1977. He & other journalists on the ground suspected but could not prove - until @WikiLeaks revelations - that many civilians were being killed.

Cockburn reported on the 'Collateral Murder' & the shooting of the wounded, inc the Reuters journalist Saeed Chmagh.
The US claimed @Wikileaks caused harm but efforts to find victims have failed. @Wikileaks made every effort to redact names. Unredacted cables published by others.

Statement by Ian Cobain, former senior journalist for the @Guardian, re US & UK involvement in the rendition program & perennial difficulty in reporting on state crime.

Ian Cobain: Extensive interference by the state & intelligence community to inhibit reporting.

Statement by journalist & mathematician @SMaurizi. Expertise in cryptography. Became interested in @Wikileaks who were only outlet offering encryption of communications & allowing other journalists to share available information.

L'Espresso, @SMaurizi's outlet partnered w/ @Wikileaks which enabled Italian coverage.

Until @Wikileaks, info abt war crimes very rarely emerged. Italy has convicted members of @CIA in relation to extraordinary rendition but US pressured Italian government to drop extradition

.@SMaurizi worked on redaction of @Wikileaks material. Names were replaced w/ XXXXXXXXXX. Only then would Wikileaks publish.

She was given encrypted USB, then password when she returned to Italy. Not the PW @DavidLeighx published. Had never seen such measures to protect data.

.@SMaurizi shocked when @davidleighx published PW. Keeping PW secret is most basic thing a journalist can do to protect sources. Surprised Gordon Kromberg relied on Leigh's book. Maurizi says the @Guardian made the most serious mistake. Enabled brute forcing of unredacted files

Mark Summers
@SMaurizi has made it clear what was happening during the final week in August 2011, before the unredacted cables ended up being published by Cryptome.

Statement by Prof Goodwin Gill from Uni of NSW.
Attended meeting at Ecuadorian embassy. Left personal belongings inc electronic devices at the door. I was shocked to discover my name came up in UC Global case in Spain. His device/data had been breached & hand on to other parties.

Statement by Richard Boyle re abusive treatment of @xychelsea by Grand Jury. Also her trial, conviction & commutation in 2017 by Pres. Obama

Grand Jury is a buffer between a government & its people. The prosecution directs what it can hear & who it indicts. Can act on rumours.

No judicial oversight on issuing of Grand Jury subpoena. Assumed that Grand Jury represents the law, burden is on witness. Court ruled it was OK for GJ to pressure family members.

Boyle: Once a jury signs an immunity order, witness can no longer be prosecuted & can not take the 5th. GJ can be used to gather intelligence to coerce political activists & movements.
Witness who refuses to testify can be jailed for contempt. No upper limits to time.

Boyle: @xychelsea resisted & challenged GJ. Claimed they set perjury trap - to have her say something different than in her trial - in order to ensure #Assange.

@xychelsea was placed in Administrative Segregation at ADC. Suffered greatly from isolation but continued to resist.

Boyle: Manning was served w/ another Grand Jury subpoena before she was released. She failed in her attempts to quash it. When superseding indictment was served on #Assange, & her testimony was deemed no longer necessary, its purpose became clear to @Manning.

2nd statement by lawyer Richard Boyle - expert on Grand Jury
In March 2019 Manning was imprisoned under appalling conditions. @NilsMelzer condemned GJ's coercive measures for the damage they do. 3 days before a hearing to discuss her release, @xychelsea attempted to take her life

Statement from Bridget Prince, Executive Director of One World Research. Talking about the potential jury pool for an #Assange trial in Alexandria Virginia. All around the area is populated by government & intelligence personnel.

BP I was asked to investigate Sheldon Adelson. Exhibits supplied.

Clare Dobbin reiterates that prosecution cannot do checks because of confidentiality around US involved litigation that involved a 3rd country.

Statement from anonymous Witness 1
Worked for UC Global. Around 2016 David Morales went security conference in LA. UC Global obtain contract w/ Las Vegas Sand owned by the tycoon Sheldon Adelson.
Morales said they had "entered the big league" & "gone to dark side".

The contract was to supply Adelson's agency w/ sensitive information about #JulianAssange. The info was passed on to US authorities. Morales regularly travelled to meet "American friends. He said it was US intelligence. In July 2017 Morales changed cameras to record sound.

Morales personally delivered the sensitive media to US authorities. I resigned & sold my shares in UC Global.

Witness 2 - IT expert. Tells same chain events re UC Global contract. I remember Sheldon Adelson increased his ties to UC Gobal. Collection of material intensified after @realDonaldTrump elected. I technically co-ordinated the replacement of equipment. In Dec 2017 I installed it.

I was told the orders came from the highest spheres. The instruction was to set up a live stream for the 'American friends'. Witness installed microphones around embassy. The toilet was key, since #Assange was meeting there, thinking it was private.

Morales said the purpose was to record meetings with visitors. Lawyers, esp Balthazar Garzon, were the priority target.

Morales ask local security to get #Assange's fingerprints.
He asked me to steal the baby's nappy. US authorities wanted to establish paternity.

Witness learned laser microphones were installed out side the embassy & measures taken to bypass noise machine #Assange using to muffle conversations.

The Americans were nervous about visit of @DanaRohrabacher. I was told to monitor everything.

They discussed raiding Garzon's home & did it. There was suggestion the embassy door should be left open to enable Assange's kidnapping & the possibility of poisoning him was discussed.

I went to embassy every 15 days to collect the original recordings. Morales took them to US.

Witness 2: The contract was called 'Operation Hotel'. When Garzon came after UC Global, Morales began removing all the material. Criminal complaint filed against Morales & UC Global after Witnesses 1 & 2 came forward

Spanish proceedings are in progress. Mr Martinez assured both witnesses anonymity & it was granted by Spanish Court. Weapons were seized from Morales' home.

Update on Spanish case will come later today or tomorrow.

Expert report by Prof Noam Chomsky on whether #Assange case is political. Long list of honorary degrees

JA's actions expose power to sunlight, cause it to evaporate, liberate citizens

Cites David Hume Force always on the side of the government but they rely on public opinion.

Chomsky: State secrecy serves to prevent the scrutiny & meddling of citizens. Assange lifted the veil of secrecy. His actions did great service to democracy but caused him to be pursued in a cruel & relentless manner.

Court resumes at 2pm BST. We should hear from British historian, investigative journalist & filmmaker Andy Worthington this afternoon. He will probably discuss his work on the @Wikileaks Guantanamo files.

andyworthington.co.uk/2020/09/25/an-…

Andy Worthington is not well today & it is not certain if he will appear. The defence & prosecution have agreed on more statements that can be read, but request another half hour.

Back in 30 mins

Court back in session
Andy Worthington's statement will be read with minor edits.
Has worked with Gitmo Assessment briefs. He was lead author of the UN detention report there.

@Wikileaks asked to join the media partnership to deal with the material in the best way, & least harm.

The UK partner on Gitmo files was the Telegraph. He could read & asses the material. There were other media partners who could publish after analysts such as he had assessed them.

Accts of incompetence w/ men capture by mistakes. Substantial bounties offered (as w/ David Hicks).

Worthington names Abu Zubaydah who was water-boarded. AW found evidence of criminal use of torture, black sites. Before working on Gitmo files in 2011, he had authored the UN report & knew what was in there. The revelation of torture at Gitmo, AW says, was of enormous importance.

AW While the other partners wanted to publish soon, he, @Wikileaks & the Telegraph pushed to publish instead in the most responsible manner.

Statement by Jameel Jaffer, a human rights and civil liberties attorney.

This is the 1st time the Espionage Act is being used to prosecute a journalist. History of Espionage Act shows it has been used to suppress political speech.

JJ Because Espionage Act is so broad anyone could be prosecuted, but the government never prosecutes senior political figures who leak, such as General Patraeus. There is no public interest defence, and little regard for public interest.
Executive branch controls the flow of info

AW: Cites truant behaviour by the state that the press needed to publish, such as illegal mass surveillance & extra-judicial drone killings.

State came down hard on leakers but not the press.

The Pentagon Papers is a pillar of press freedom, but it was about prior restraint

Summers listing allegations in the 2nd superseding indictment. AW: These kinds of activities are exactly what journalists do. Those who say #Assange is not a journalist miss the point. The accusations relate to core journalistic activities.

All statements will be published.

End of hearing for the day. Continues tomorrow morning.

Glitch w/ YouTube. New link for today's stream: