What expert witnesses said
Journalists who worked with WikiLeaks on the Cablegate release testified about Assange’s redaction process, care to conceal names of those who might be at risk, and digital protection of the documents to prevent accidental release. Digital experts who reviewed online records testified that it was Guardian journalists Luke Harding and David Leigh’s publication of a password that ultimately led to the unredacted publication, that actually a different leak site published the unredacted cables first and haven’t been prosecuted, and that Assange attempted to mitigate any damage that could result from the release.
Why it matters
The three publishing counts under the Espionage Act — perhaps the charges most worrying to fellow journalists as a conviction for publishing would be unprecedented — only charge Julian Assange with publishing the unredacted State Department cables in September 2011 (as opposed to the redacted cables in late 2010 and early 2011). The government alleges that Assange published recklessly, without regard for the informants and sources named in the documents.
Key testimony
- John Goetz on WikiLeaks’ “very rigorous redaction process” (day 7)
- Assange’s harm-minimization withheld 15,000 documents
- Iraq War Logs: WikiLeaks redacted more than the U.S. gov’t
- Unredacted cables falsely blamed on WikiLeaks
- John Sloboda on WikiLeaks’ redaction process
- Nicky Hager: Assange’s redactions protected informants
- Mark Feldstein: “national security is often used as a shield to hide” embarrassing or bad actions
- Daniel Ellsberg: WikiLeaks did not cause harm
- Christian Grothoff: WikiLeaks did not publish unredacted cables first
- Cryptome published unredacted cables first
- Jakob Augstein: Assange “feared for the safety of informants”
- Stefania Maurizi: WikiLeaks’ unprecedented document security
Read more
- Facts and myths in the WikiLeaks/Guardian saga (Salon, September 2011)