The former US intelligence chief criticized celebrations surrounding the release of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange this week, calling the Australian “not a hero”.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, James Clapper, who served as head of the intelligence community under former President Barack Obama, called Assange’s actions wrong and illegal.
Clapper went on to say that American assets in Afghanistan were likely killed because Wikileaks revealed their identities in government documents.
“There is a kind of religious debate here between those who defend transparency and those who care about security. It’s a never-ending debate. I understand what they are saying, but I don’t think I’m a hero,” Clapper said.
‘What he did was wrong and illegal and one of our federal grand juries saw fit to indict him on 18 espionage-related charges. The concern we have is the potential identity and compromise of assets, Iraqis and Afghans who were helping us, as well as jeopardizing sources and methods.’
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, pictured alongside former FBI Director James Comey, gave his opinion on Assange on Wednesday morning in an interview with the BBC.
Clapper was then asked if he felt people were dying because of Assange and Wikileaks’ methods.
“I imagine there are some people because they were identified as having helped us and they were doing it clandestinely; when they were discovered, I can imagine that some of them may have lost their lives given the situation, particularly in Afghanistan,” he said. he replied she.
Assange has been accused of having a laissez-faire attitude towards the security of Afghan assets. He was once asked by a journalist about the risks to their lives.
‘Well, they are informants. So if they get killed, they deserve it. “They deserve it,” he said, according to The Guardian.
Assange was released from Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom on Monday and from there flew to Thailand, en route to the US territory of Saipan in the South Pacific.
He appeared before a federal judge Wednesday morning, where he pleaded guilty to one count of espionage. He will not serve any prison sentence in the United States.
After his appearance, Assange boarded a flight to Australia where he will join his wife, Stella, and their children.
During his interview with Today, Clapper said Assange’s guilty plea deal is “important to a lot of people.”
The WikiLeaks founder has just been released without parole or supervision following a hearing in a US federal court on the Pacific island of Saipan.
Assange is taken to the airport in time to catch flight VJT199 to Canberra, which took off at 1pm local time on Wednesday.
Clapper is seen standing at far right alongside former President Barack Obama and current President Joe Biden, as well as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as they watch a video showing the mission to capture Osama Bin Laden in 2011.
While in the Obama administration, Clapper was accused of planning a program of mass surveillance of American citizens and then lying about it during a congressional questioning in 2013.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked Clapper if the NSA collects “any kind of data on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans.”
“No, sir,” replied Mr. Clapper. I didn’t do it knowingly.
Classified documents leaked to the media revealed three months later that the NSA had been forcing U.S. telecommunications providers to obtain copies of phone records, known as metadata, for virtually all calls and text messages made over domestic networks. .
Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, was identified as the source of the leaked NSA documents, including material detailing the metadata collection program, shortly after they were first reported by The Guardian in June 2013.
He was criminally charged while traveling abroad and has not returned to the United States.
In a separate interview on CNN’s Laura Coates Live on Tuesday night, Clapper admitted that Assange had “already paid his debts.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence echoed Clapper’s sentiment in a post on X
Clapper added that the plea agreement worked well for the Justice Department since it included a guilty plea.
“I think his allegation of a charge of espionage was fundamental to this. “I think the law enforcement community and the intelligence community would not have accepted this without that.”
But he has essentially served seven years in prison in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He was released and then the British arrested him. He served 62 months in prison. Tough time in London. So, in a way, you know, he has paid his debts.
Assange was previously charged with 18 counts, 17 of espionage and one of computer misuse.
Former Vice President Mike Pence echoed clapper’s sentiments.
“Julian Assange endangered the lives of our troops in wartime and should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” the former Indiana governor wrote in a post on X.
“The Biden administration’s plea deal with Assange is a miscarriage of justice and dishonors the service and sacrifice of the men and women of our Armed Forces and their families.”
“There should be no plea deals to avoid prison for anyone who endangers the safety of our military or the national security of the United States. Ever.”
Pence’s view was shared by former CIA analyst Gail Helt, who explicitly stated: ‘Friends. “Julian Assange is not a hero.”
“He is a despicable Russian agent who harmed hundreds of people and dismissed them as if they didn’t matter.”
“I’m okay with the plea deal because I hope it means I’ll see his name a lot less on my social media, but we won’t worship the man.” It caused great damage.’