Published time: 6 Feb, 2018 14:18 Edited time: 7 Feb, 2018 08:55

A British judge will rule on February 13 whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can have his arrest warrant, for breaching bail conditions, lifted on public interest grounds.

Judge Emma Arbuthnot had earlier rejected a bid by Assange, who is holed up inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, to have an arrest warrant against him dropped on different grounds.

Speaking outside court, Assanges lawyer Jennifer Robinson said all of us should be resisting the threat to free speech posed by the persecution of Assange.

We hope this situation will come to an end very soon and we look forward to the decision next week, Robinson said. [The outcome on Tuesday] is not disappointing, we finally had the court understand the public interest of this case.

According to Assange, only the first technical point of his legal challenge has failed. Judges will hear and decide on the other points on Tuesday afternoon, and if Assange wins any of them, the warrant falls.

The Judicial Office tweeted the judgment on Tuesday afternoon. Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot said in her ruling: Having considered the arguments I am not persuaded that the warrant should be withdrawn.

Assange, 46, absconded in 2012 to enter the Ecuadorian embassy, to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual assault and rape. However, Swedish prosecutors have since dropped those charges.

Still, Assange has been unable to leave the embassy in London, as he faced arrest for breaching his bail conditions in the UK.

Assange's lawyer, Mark Summers, argued that the arrest warrant should be dropped because it had lost its purpose and its function, citing the dropped charges against Assange in Sweden.

[Assange] has spent five-and-a-half years in conditions which, on any view, are akin to imprisonment, without access to adequate medical care or sunlight, in circumstances where his physical and psychological health have deteriorated and are in serious peril, Summers wrote in court papers, as quoted by the Guardian.

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However, Aaron Watkins, who represents the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), called Summers argument strange and untenable, adding that it was an attempt at contorting legislation to allow Assange to leave the embassy.

Assange had been released on bail in proceedings; he was under a duty to surrender to the custody of the court and he failed to surrender at the appointed time for him to do so. Therefore the warrant stands, Watkins said, calling Assanges situation extremely simple.

Assange was made an Ecuadorian citizen in December. However, the UK refused to recognize him as having diplomatic status, which would have given him legal immunity and allowed him to leave the embassy.

Even if Assange's arrest warrant has been dropped, he could have still been extradited to the US to face trial over WikiLeaks' publication of classified US military and diplomatic documents in 2010 which amounted to one of the largest information leaks in United States history.

If found guilty in a US court, Assange could face life imprisonment or possibly even the death penalty under the Espionage Act. British authorities have declined to confirm or deny if a US extradition warrant has been received.

The Wikileaks founder has consistently denied the allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Continued here:
UK judge upholds Julian Assange's arrest warrant - rt.com

JULIAN Assange has been granted a final crack at freedom after a judge agreed to consider whether a 2012 arrest warrant against him should be dropped on public interest grounds.

And, a tumlutous day for the whistleblower has culminated with police swooping on the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to investigate a suspicious package.

I can confirm that a package containing an unknown white powdery substance and a threat was addressed to my name, Assange wrote on Twitter.

It was handed to UK diplomatic police. I understand they are performing toxicology and forensics.

Local police said the item is being assessed by specialist officers. There are no reported injuries.

Assanges last-minute legal request came after Judge Emma Arbuthnot declined an earlier call to have the UK arrest warrant for skipping bail withdrawn.

The sole issue for me to consider at this stage is whether the warrant issued ... can remain in force when the extradition proceedings have terminated, she told Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Having considered the arguments set out ... I am not persuaded that the warrant should be withdrawn.

READ FULL JUDGEMENT HERE

However in a late courtroom twist, Mr Assanges lawyer, Mark Summers QC requested the court consider public interest issues and whether a ruling could be made in his absence rather than wait for his physical surrender due to the exceptional circumstances.

After brief consideration the judge agreed and Mr Summers went on to outline four arguments why the final outstanding warrant should be dealt with without the need for Mr Assange to show up in court.

Firstly, Mr Summers said Mr Assange had held and expressed strong fears of being removed to the US from Sweden.

He said the charges should be dealt with in his absence because the UN had ruled that his situation at present is arbitrary, unreasonable, unnecessary, disproportionate.

Thirdly, Mr Summers argued Mr Assanges decision to remain in the Ecuadorean embassy did not have the usual consequence of paralysing the underlying criminal process.

He said Mr Assange had been interviewed by Swedish authorities inside the embassy and it couldnt be further from the truth that he was waiting out charges to be dropped.

Finally, Mr Summers argued spending the last five and a half years inside the small room was adequate, if not severe punishment for Mr Assanges actions, which would receive a maximum of 12 months in jail.

He catalogued Mr Assanges health issues including depression, a frozen shoulder, a bad tooth and lack of space, despite queries from the judge over the fact he has access to a balcony and computer.

Judge Arbuthnot said she would reserve her final judgment until Tuesday 13 February at 2pm UK time.

Mr Assange, 46, has been living inside the Ecuadorean embassy since June 2012 where he took refuge to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Outside the court, Mr Assanges lawyer Jennifer Robinson said he is still seeking a guarantee he will not be extradited to the US.

Mr Assange remains willing to face British justice in relation to any argument about breach of bail but not at the expense of facing injustice in America, she said.

This case is and has always been about the risk of extradition to the United States and that risk remains real.

MORE: Assange to walk free with bitcoin fortune?

Unless that assurance is given and the UK stops insisting on neither confirming or denying the existence of [that warrant], he is at risk of extradition and that is the risk that he entered the embassy for in the very first place.

Mr Assange tweeted throughout the proceedings and accused the media of wall to wall fake news stating that the government won todays hearing as was initially the case.

Nothing of the sort has happened. The hearing is still happening. Only one point has been ruled on.

Judge has ruled against the first technical point the court now expected to hear & decide on the other points, he said.

The decision came a day after alleged hacker Lauri Love, 32, won a UK court appeal to block his extradition to the US where he faced charges in three states after allegedly stealing data from US agencies including the Department of Defense, Federal Reserve, NASA and the US Army.

Mr Love has Aspergers syndrome and depression and his lawyers argued it would be unjust and oppressive to send him to the US to face trial where he might present a suicide risk.

The UK High Court sided with Mr Love, although he could still face trial in England where he was judged to have benefited from proximity to family members.

Rebecca Niblock, an extradition expert at London law firm Kingsley Napley, told the Associated Press the High Court judgment sets a valuable precedent for future cases.

It is right for British courts to deal with individuals who are alleged to have committed crimes while in the U.K., she said.

with Ben Graham

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A UK warrant to arrest Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is still valid, a court has ruled.

The warrant was issued in 2012 after Mr Assange failed to answer bail over sex assault claims in Sweden, now dropped.

Lawyers for Mr Assange, who has been living in London's Ecuador embassy since then, argued the warrant had therefore "lost its purpose".

His lawyers went on to argue against it on other grounds and the court will rule on 13 February.

At Westminster Magistrates' Court, senior district judge and chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot said, having considered the arguments, she was "not persuaded that the warrant should be withdrawn".

She told the court that not surrendering to bail was a stand-alone offence under the Bail Act and Mr Assange must explain why he had failed to do so.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison.

His lawyers went on to argue that his case should be discontinued on the grounds that his treatment was not proportionate in the interests of justice.

Mr Assange's lawyer Mark Summers QC said his client had "had reasonable grounds for the course that he took".

He said the UN had ruled that Mr Assange's situation at present was "arbitrary, unreasonable and disproportionate" and his conduct in failing to answer bail had not had "the usual consequence of paralysing the underlying legal proceedings".

Mr Summers said Mr Assange had "at all times" offered to cooperate with the Swedish investigation and the five and a half years he had spent in the embassy in London "may be thought to be adequate, if not severe punishment, for the actions that he took".

Mr Assange has long feared that, if he leaves the Ecuadorean embassy and is arrested, he could then be extradited to the US to face prosecution for publishing classified information through Wikileaks.

After the hearing, his legal team said they would continue to seek assurances that the UK did not have a US extradition warrant and would let him leave the country freely and without interference.

Mr Assange later said in a tweet that he had received a package addressed to him at the embassy and containing "an unknown white powdery substance and a threat".

The Metropolitan Police confirmed specialist officers assessed a small package and it was deemed not to be suspicious.

Earlier this month the UK government refused to grant Mr Assange diplomatic status and called on him to leave the embassy and "face justice". It has refused to guarantee he will not be extradited to the US, which has said his arrest is "a priority".

Wikileaks, which was founded by Mr Assange in 2006, has been involved in several high-profile releases of classified US information.

It made headlines around the world in April 2010 when it released footage showing US soldiers shooting dead 18 civilians from a helicopter in Iraq.

Mr Assange promoted and defended the video, as well as a massive release of classified US military documents relating to the Afghan and Iraq wars in July and October 2010.

The website continued to release new documents, including five million confidential emails from US-based intelligence company Stratfor.

See the article here:
Julian Assange arrest warrant still stands, court rules ...

Assanges lawyers react by launching new application on public interest grounds

Julian Assange will continue to face arrest if he leaves the Ecuadorian embassy, after a judge ruled that the arrest warrant against the WikiLeaks founder was still valid.

But after the senior district judge Emma Arbuthnot ruled against Assange on Tuesday, his lawyers made a separate application that the warrant should be dropped on public interest grounds, leaving open the possibility that he could still walk out of the embassy in the near future.

Assange, 46, skipped bail to enter the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual assault and rape, which he denies. Though Swedish prosecutors dropped the investigation against him, he faces arrest if he leaves the building in Knightsbridge, London, for breaching his former bail conditions in the UK.

In making the public interest case, Assanges lawyer, Mark Summers QC, said the punishment Assange faces was not proportionate, and therefore not in the interests of justice. Arbuthnot said that she would rule on the point on 13 February.

Assanges legal team said that the decision on Tuesday was far from final. Jennifer Robinson of Doughty Street Chambers said: For more than seven years we have been fighting to end Julian Assanges detention without charge. After today, that fight will continue until we can ensure his freedom.

We will also continue to seek assurances that the UK does not have a US extradition warrant, and will let him leave the country freely and without interference.

Hours after the decision Assange tweeted that a package containing a powdery substance and a threat had been sent to him at the embassy. The Metropolitan police confirmed it was investigating.

The judges initial decision means that Assange will continue to be confined to the embassy where he has lived for five years.

With a media throng outside, Lauri Love, the alleged hacker who was spared extradition to the US on Monday, left the embassy shortly before the decision was due to be handed down. He said he had been to visit his friend Assange to accept his congratulations. Love, who was pushing a large box on a trolley, joked that Assange was inside it.

Summers had argued to the court last month that since the Swedish case against Assange had been dropped, the warrant had lost its purpose and its function. He told Arbuthnot that because Swedish extradition proceedings against Assange had come to an end, so had the life of the arrest warrant.

But Arbuthnot rejected that argument on Tuesday, saying: Im not persuaded that the warrant should be withdrawn.

She said Assange not surrendering to bail was an offence in its own right. In front of a packed public gallery, she said: Once at court, the defendant would be given the opportunity to explain his failure to surrender and that is when Mr Assange would be able to place before the court his reasonable cause for failing to do so.

Aaron Watkins, representing the Crown Prosecution Service, said Assanges argument for having the warrant dropped was strange and untenable.

Assange had been released on bail in proceedings; he was under a duty to surrender to the custody of the court and he failed to surrender at the appointed time for him to do so. Therefore a warrant stands, Watkins said.

Assange remains concerned that he faces a secret US indictment on charges related to WikiLeaks disclosure of leaked classified US documents.

Ecuador recently granted him citizenship and asylum in an attempt to resolve the political impasse over his continued presence in the UK. It had tried unsuccessfully to persuade British officials to give Assange diplomatic status, which might have made it possible for him to leave Britain even if he was sought by US officials.

In applying for the warrant to be lifted on public interest grounds, Summers argued that Assanges actions in seeking refuge at the embassy were reasonable in the light of the perceived threat of extradition to the US, adding: I use reasonable grounds loosely ... justification is perhaps the better terminology.

Referencing a UN description of his situation as arbitrary, unreasonable, unnecessary, disproportionate, he said Swedish prosecutors were free to interview him at the embassy. He added: The last five and a half years that he has spent might be thought to be adequate if not severe punishment for the actions that he took.

Tweeting after the hearing, Assange said: We only lost the first of four points. I was never charged. My asylum was over US extradition and Sweden dropped its so-called preliminary investigation a year ago. We are arguing four points ... If we win any point the warrant falls.

View original post here:
Julian Assange still faces arrest after judge rules ...

LONDON -- A British judge on Tuesday upheld a U.K. arrest warrant for the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, leaving his legal position unchanged after more than five years inside the Ecuadorean Embassy.

Judge Emma Arbuthnot rejected a call from Assange's lawyers for the warrant to be revoked because he is no longer wanted for questioning in Sweden.

"I am not persuaded the warrant should be withdrawn," Arbuthnot told lawyers, journalists and Assange supporters gathered at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court.

After the ruling, Assange's lawyer, Mark Summers, tried to persuade the judge to hold a further hearing on new legal arguments. She didn't immediately agree.

Assange has been holed up in the Ecuador's embassy in London since he took refuge there in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden. Swedish prosecutors were investigating allegations of sexual assault and rape made by two women in 2010.

Swedish prosecutors dropped the case last year, saying there was no prospect of bringing Assange to Sweden in the foreseeable future. But Assange was still subject to a British arrest warrant for jumping bail in 2012.

Had the judge ruled in Assange's favor, he would have been free to leave the embassy without being arrested on the British warrant.

However, Assange suspects there is a secret U.S. indictment against him for WikiLeaks' publication of leaked classified American documents, and that the U.S. authorities will seek his extradition. His lawyers have made it clear that until that matter is resolved, with a guarantee from the British government that he would not be

Earlier this month, Ecuador said it had granted the Australian-born hacker citizenship, as the South American country tried to unblock the stalemate that has kept Assange as its houseguest for five-and-a-half years.

Ecuador also asked Britain to grant him diplomatic status. Britain refused, saying "the way to resolve this issue is for Julian Assange to leave the embassy to face justice."

British prosecutors had opposed the removal of the warrant, saying Assange shouldn't be immune from the law simply because he has managed to evade justice for a long time.

Extradition lawyer Rebecca Niblock of Kingsley Napley said before the ruling that Assange's legal argument was a longshot.

"Failing to surrender to bail is like insulting the court's authority" and unlikely to go down well with the court, she said.

2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Julian Assange United Kingdom arrest warrant upheld in ...

A LONDON court will rule on February 6 whether to drop an arrest warrant against Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, after his lawyers made a surprise request for the move in Westminster Magistrates Court.

Assange, who has spent the past five years holed up in the embassy, next door to Harrods in Londons posh Knightsbridge district, asked his lawyers to argue that the warrant, issued after he breached his bail conditions, be discontinued after Swedish authorities confirmed that their extradition warrant is no longer live.

Assange, 46, breached his bail conditions and requested asylum in the embassy in 2012 in order to avoid extradition to Sweden over an allegation of rape, which he has consistently denied.

Swedish prosecutors confirmed they had dropped the investigation against him last year but Assange could still be arrested if he leaves the building in Knightsbridge due to his skipping of the UK bail conditions.

In the Westminster Magistrates Court his lawyers argued now that the Swedish case had been dropped the warrant had lost its purpose and its function.

Asked if Assange could walk free, a spokesman for the Crown Proscution Service said: Hypothetically, yes. That would be our interpretation.

The magistrate also said she needed to examine medical evidence that Assange is suffering a terrible bad tooth, frozen shoulder and depression.

A scrum of photographers and broadcast vans assembled outside the embassy as a single supporter tied a red Free Assange banner on to the wrought iron fence and handed out leaflets condemning Sweden and the UKs legal pursuit of the Wikileaks founder.

Shoppers from the famous department store Harrods, which is next door, stopped to ask questions while cars and taxis slowed down to make sense of the throng.

There was no appearance of Assange who sometimes makes speeches from the embassy balcony.

MORE: Australia refuses to intervene in Ecuador embassy row

British police have said Assange would be arrested for breaching bail conditions should he leave the building.

He is seeking to have the warrant of arrest discontinued because the Swedes have confirmed that the extradition warrant is no longer live, a spokesman for Britains Crown Prosecution Service said.

He is seeking that therefore the warrant of arrest should be taken out as well.

Asked if a successful ruling could enable Assange to walk free, the spokesman replied: hypothetically yes, that would be our interpretation.

It comes as his doctors warned his health was at risk as a result of his six-year confinement.

Sondra S Crosby, Brock Chisholm and Sean Love, writing on The Guardians website, said that they spent 20 hours over three days assessing Assanges condition.

Without giving any particular details, they said that his confinement has had an impact on his physical and mental health.

As clinicians, it is our ethical duty to advocate for the health and human rights of all people as promised under international law, wrote the doctors. Experience tells us that the prolonged uncertainty of indefinite detention inflicts profound psychological and physical trauma above and beyond the expected stressors of incarceration.

These can include severe anxiety, pathological levels of stress, dissociation, depression, suicidal thoughts, post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain, among others.

It is unconscionable that Mr Assange is in the position of having to decide between avoiding arrest and potentially suffering the health consequences, including death, if a life-threatening crisis such as a heart attack were to occur.

Further, our assessment reveals that he has had no access to sunlight, appropriate ventilation or outside space for over five and a half years.

The WikiLeaks founder has not stepped out of the Knightsbridge, west London, embassy since August 2012.

The rest is here:
Julian Assange: WikiLeaks founder will have to wait until ...

When Sean Hannity's Twitter account went offline for a few hours over the weekend (Hannity fans say the deep state did it), a woman named Dell Gilliam set up a parody account called @SeanHannity__ (note the underscores). Julian Assange, the head of Wikileaks, thought the account belonged to Hannity and sent a direct message to the account offering some "new about Warner" (meaning Democratic senator Mark Warner, who is part of the Trump-Russia investigation.

From Daily Beast:

While Assange was not the only high-profile person duped by the account, his interactions with it were likely the most significant.

Citing mysterious sources and to-be-revealed bombshells, Hannity has been alleging he will unveil the biggest scandal in American history for weeks on his primetime Fox News show that has devolved into mostly a recitation of conspiracy theories about a secret society and the deep state.

Both Hannity and Assanges WikiLeaks have pushed similar document drops and hashtag campaigns since before the 2016 election, most recently the push to release a confidential memo about government spying under the hashtag #releasethememo. Last year, Hannity even invited Assange to guest host his radio program. Both participated in baseless speculation about the murder of former DNC staffer Seth Rich, which Hannity later dropped after advertisers dropped his program.

Dell's account now has 23.6k followers.

Images: Julian Assange by Cancillera del Ecuador - https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgcomsoc/14953880621/, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link. Sean Hannity by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

A billboard mysteriously appears in St. Paul, Minn. in which God offers a special message to noted crazy ex-congresscritter Michele Bachmann. Hope she obeys The Lord.

An Amtrak train carrying GOP lawmakers and their staff to a retreat has collided with a garbage truck, killing at least one person, and injuring others. This is a developing story.

So, geophysicists have been studying the earths magnetic field, and they think its getting ready to flip with the north and south poles changing places.

View original post here:
Julian Assange mistakenly offers dirt on Dem senator to Sean ...

At about 4 a.m. on Saturday morning, a couple hours after she started pretending to be Sean Hannity, Dell Gilliam says she got a direct message back from the head of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange. Thats when she said she kind of panicked.

I felt bad. He really thought he was talking to Sean Hannity, said Gilliam.

Gilliam, a technical writer from Texas, was bored with the flu when she created @SeanHannity__ early Saturday morning. The Fox News host's real account was temporarily deleted after cryptically tweeting the phrase Form Submission 1649 | #Hannity on Friday night. Twitter said the account had been briefly compromised, according to a statement provided to The Daily Beast, and was back up on Sunday morning.

When Gilliam made the account, she did not expect to be setting up a meeting over other channels for Assange to send some news about Warner, an apparent reference to Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

During the election, WikiLeaks dumped Democratic emails stolen by Kremlin hackers, even leading President Donald Trumps CIA director to brand Assanges organization a hostile intelligence service last year.

Just minutes after @SeanHannity disappeared, several accounts quickly sprung up posing as the real Hannity, shouting from Twitter exile. None were as successful as Gilliams @SeanHannity__ account, which has since amassed over 24,000 followers.

Gilliam then used her newfound prominence to direct message Assange as Hannity within hours.

I cant believe this is happening. I mean I can. Its crazy. Nothing can be put past people, Gilliam, posing as Hannity, wrote to Assange. Im exhausted from the whole night. What about you, though? You doing ok?

Im happy as long as there is a fight! Assange responded.

Gilliam reassured Assange that she, or Hannity, was also definitely up for a fight and set up a call for 9:30 a.m. Eastern, about six hours later.

You can send me messages on other channels, said Assange, the second reference to other channels he made since their conversation began.

Have some news about Warner.

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Less than 48 hours later, Warner made headlines claiming that the Senate intelligence committee received end-of-the-year document dumps that opened a lot of new questions about Trump and Russia.

When reached by The Daily Beast about the messages, Warners spokesperson pointed to WikiLeaks ties to the release of recent document drops performed by Russian entities, like Kremlin cutout Guccifer 2.0.

Give me a break.WikiLeaks is a non-state hostile intelligence service with longstanding ties to the Russian government and Russian intelligence.

While Assange was not the only high-profile person duped by the account, his interactions with it were likely the most significant.

Citing mysterious sources and to-be-revealed bombshells, Hannity has been alleging he will unveil the biggest scandal in American history for weeks on his primetime Fox News show that has devolved into mostly a recitation of conspiracy theories about a secret society and the deep state.

Both Hannity and Assanges WikiLeaks have pushed similar document drops and hashtag campaigns since before the 2016 election, most recently the push to release a confidential memo about government spying under the hashtag #releasethememo. Last year, Hannity even invited Assange to guest host his radio program. Both participated in baseless speculation about the murder of former DNC staffer Seth Rich, which Hannity later dropped after advertisers dropped his program.

Leaked Twitter correspondences between Donald Trump Jr. and the official WikiLeaks account made headlines in November of 2017. Trump Jr. had not disclosed the direct messages until after the November report by The Atlantic.

Hannity, Assange and Fox News public relations did not respond to a request for comment.

You can send me messages on other channels. Have some news about Warner.

Julian Assange

This was not Gilliams plan when she created the account on Saturday morning. In fact, she said she didnt really know much about Sean Hannity when it all started. Gilliam said she watches Fox News, NPR, and CNN in equal parts, had intentionally ignored [Hannity] because he seems to have no respect from anybody on either side except for Trump.

She said she simply wanted to play a joke on another Sean Hannity account, @SeanHannity_, with one underscore and not two.

It kind of started on a whim. I was going to tweet at one of the fake Sean Hannity accounts that was up to tell them not to be me, she said.

Then, in part because Gilliam seemed to have picked up on Hannitys conspiratorial and frenzied voice, things picked up fast.

I dont even really know how [Hannity] sounds, so I started by copying the tone of the first fake one, she said.

It worked.

To all the lib haters, know that I am back and here to stay. You cant silence the truth and you have no idea whats coming, her first tweet read. To all my loyal supporters - follow me on my new account to stay updated. Twitter can try to knock us down but we will keep rising up! #SeanHannity

That tweet, which had 1,800 retweets and 3,500 likes, was retweeted by dozens of verified journalists and Twitter personalities.

Chrissy Teigen took a shot at Gilliams version of Hannity in front of her 9.67 million followers.

Settle down, braveheart, she wrote. Over 8,000 people retweeted it.

Gilliams experience as a bureaucrat, whose interest in fine print is interesting to me, but nobody else, helped her monopolize the fake Hannity space.

I realized that in the Twitter rules it says you cant make a fake account unless you say youre not affiliated with that person, she said.

Under @SeanHannity__s bio, it reads (Above not affiliated with) New Account! She remained live while SeanHannity_ with one underscore and several others were booted off the service.

People dont read parentheticals, she said.

Gilliam said she plans on keeping the account going, or donating her 24,000 followers to an environmental nonprofit she works with. Shes already tweeted out a YouTube video from a band she likes from Nashville to try to get them more followers.

Recovering from the flu, she didnt sleep all of Saturday, reading through tweets by duped celebrities and mountains of messages.

Id say its one-third hate mail, one-third hero worship, one-third people saying they figured it out. His followers are disturbingly angry, she said.

Reading the messages, I can see how believing in this false reality would be really easy to do. I was starting to get really nervous about what was really happening. It all sucks you into a level of paranoia Id never seen before.

More:
Julian Assange Offered Hannity Impersonator News About Top ...

A woman in Texas impersonated Fox News host Sean Hannity and duped WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with a series of direct messages on Twitter, according to a report.

Technical writer Dell Gilliam secured the handle @SeanHannity__ after the Fox News hosts Twitter account @SeanHannity went down on Saturday morning, the Daily Beast reported.

Gilliam, who amassed more than 23,000 followers by pretending to be Hannity, sent a direct message to Assange that read, Id like to set up a time for us to talk. When may be good for you?

Assange responded, Back! Good to see. Most of today is good. Try other channels.

Sean Hannitys Twitter account briefly vanishes

When Gilliam kept up the conversation and asked if he was available for a call, Assange made a second mention of messaging on other channels.

He added, Have some news about Warner.

Two days later, Sen. Mark Warner the leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Politico that Congress received extraordinarily important new documents at the end of 2017 that opened a lot of new questions into the investigation into Trumps campaign.

WikiLeaks, which published hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign, also sent direct messages to Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter less than two months before the 2016 presidential elections.

The messages, which continued for at least 10 months and included requests for President Trumps tax returns, were later turned over to congressional investigators.

On Monday night, Hannity tried to push back on reports of Gilliams exchange with Assange on his restored Twitter account.

The epitome of #FakeNews. Literally a fake account, a fake persona, and this is what the destroy Trump media writes about? Hannity tweeted.

Link:
Texas woman dupes Julian Assange with fake Hannity Twitter ...

No known charges have been filed against Mr. Assange in the United States, but the Justice Department has contemplated prosecuting him, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said that arresting Mr. Assange was a priority.

On Friday, Mr. Assanges lawyer, Mark Summers, told the Westminster Magistrates Court that Swedens withdrawal of the European arrest warrant meant that the British arrest warrant for violating bail no longer applied.

Here are key points in his case since WikiLeaks burst onto the digital scene in 2010.

Its lost its purpose and its function, he said.

He argued that the purpose of the British warrant was to let the extradition case now moot continue, not to charge Mr. Assange with violating bail.

And even if the court disagrees, Mr. Summers said, it should find that it was not in the public interest to charge Mr. Assange with bail violations.

Mr. Assange had reasonable grounds for having sought refuge in the embassy, his lawyer argued, citing the case of Chelsea Manning, the former Army soldier who was imprisoned for leaking documents to WikiLeaks, until her sentence was commuted last year; calls by Mike Huckabee for Mr. Assange to be executed; and findings by United Nations experts that his stay in the embassy amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment.

He has spent 5 years in conditions which, on any view, are akin to imprisonment, without access to adequate medical care or sunlight, in circumstances where his physical and psychological health have deteriorated and are in serious peril, Mr. Summers wrote in a note to the court.

Aaron Watkins, representing the Crown Prosecution Service, asked the court to deny Mr. Assanges request. He said that the warrant should stand and that Mr. Assange could be arrested and prosecuted for the crime of skipping bail.

He said it could not be in the public interest for Mr. Assange having evaded arrest for so long that Swedish prosecutors dropped their case not to be arrested or punished for his failure to surrender and for his contempt for the court process.

Mr. Assanges hypothetical fear of extradition to the United States was not a reasonable explanation for his contempt of court, Mr. Watkins added.

The courts chief magistrate, Emma Arbuthnot, who noted doctors statements that Mr. Assange suffered from depression, tooth pain and a stiff shoulder, adjourned the hearing until Feb. 6.

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Julian Assange Asks U.K. Court to Drop His Arrest Warrant ...