{"id":338336,"date":"2017-04-14T06:10:01","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T22:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1476765"},"modified":"2017-04-14T06:10:01","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T22:10:01","slug":"the-cia-is-really-really-mad-at-wikileaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/the-cia-is-really-really-mad-at-wikileaks\/","title":{"rendered":"The CIA is really, really mad at Wikileaks"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies today, CIA Director Mike Pompeo went off<\/em> on Wikileaks<\/a>. Pompeo is pretty mad about that whole Vault 7 hacking tools data dump<\/a>, it looks like. \u201cWikileaks walks like a hostile intelligence service and talks like a hostile intelligence service,\u201d he declared Thursday. I think he\u00a0means that it\u2019s a hostile intelligence service!<\/p>\n

The declaration marked the Trump intelligence appointee\u2019s first public appearance since taking over at the CIA as well as\u00a0a major departure from Trump\u2019s unequivocal\u00a0\u201cI love Wikileaks\u201d campaign attitude<\/a>. Prior to his current role at the head of the CIA, Pompeo\u00a0was quite happy to cite Wikileaks to support his hyper-partisan cause du jour, which Maine Senator Angus King brought up during his confirmation hearing earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Now, Pompeo\u2019s tune has changed:<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is \u2013 a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia<\/strong>. In January of this year, our Intelligence Community determined that Russian military intelligence\u2014the GRU\u2014had used WikiLeaks to release data of US victims that the GRU had obtained through cyber operations against the Democratic National Committee. And the report also found that Russia\u2019s primary propaganda outlet, RT, has actively collaborated with WikiLeaks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Pompeo went on to equate Assange\u2019s slapdash Wikileaks approach with Edward Snowden\u2019s carefully considered and by most\u00a0accounts legitimate whistleblowing, which naturally he dismissed as\u00a0\u201ctreachery\u201d because it wasn\u2019t \u201cdiscreet\u201d enough. He went on to mutter some misleading stuff about Snowden\u2019s relationship with Russia:<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen Snowden absconded to the comfortable clutches of Russian intelligence, his treachery directly harmed a wide range of US intelligence and military operations. Despite what he claims, he is no whistleblower. True whistleblowers use the well-established and discreet processes in place to voice grievances; they do not put American lives at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Pompeo\u2019s definition of a \u201ctrue whistleblower\u201d aside, he\u2019s mad enough about this leaking business to propose a mostly fangless multi-pronged plan to combat Assange and his ilk.<\/p>\n

First, he intends to \u201c[call] out those who grant a platform to these leakers and so-called transparency activists\u201d (we\u2019re not quite sure what that means). Second, he wants to improve \u201cinternal mechanisms\u201d for counterintelligence, to be \u201cas clever and innovative as the enemies we face\u201d (okay). Third, he\u00a0proclaimed that \u201cwe can no longer allow Assange and his colleagues the latitude to use free speech values against us\u201d (again, what this looks like in practice against a foreign entity is anyone\u2019s guess). And lastly, he wants to deepen the trust between citizens and the CIA, which honestly is probably a good starting place!<\/p>\n

Pompeo\u2019s\u00a0sickest Assange burns, which are mostly hard to argue with:<\/p>\n