President Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort reportedly held secret meetings with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Veuer's Sam Berman has the full story. Buzz60

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort departs the federal court house after a status hearing in Washington, DC, earlier this year.(Photo: Shawn Thew, EPA-EFE)

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret meetings with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assangeinside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, the Guardian reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.

The British publication said Manafort went to see Assange in 2013, 2015 and then around the time he joined the campaign.

The Guardian said, according to a "well-placed source," a casually dressed Manafort met with Assange for about 40 minutes around March 2016.Ecuadorian sources said the visit would normally have been logged, but they told the Guardian the 2016visit was not.The paper said it was "unclear why Manafort wanted to see Assange and what was discussed."

Manafort, 69, told the newspaper the story is "100 percent false."

In a separate statement, Manafort, now in jail awaiting sentencing on two financial fraud convictions,went on to characterize the article as "deliberately libelous."

"I have never met Julian Assange or anyone connected to him," Manafort said in a statement distributed by his spokesman."I have never been contacted by anyone connected to Wikileaks, either directly or indirectly. I have never reached out to Assange or Wikileaks on any matter."

"We are considering all legal options against the Guardian who proceeded with this story even after being notified by my representatives that it was false, he said.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has made contacts between Assange and people connected to President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign a focus of his investigation into Russian election meddling. WikiLeaks published emails damaging to the Democratic National Committee and Trump's opponent Hillary Clinton ahead of the election emails that U.S. intelligence agencies concluded were stolen by Russian intelligence officers.

Mueller has searched for evidence that people in Trump's orbit had advance knowledge of the emails as part of his inquiry into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin's efforts to sway the election.

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Manafort's reported contact with Assange could shed new light on Mueller's efforts to tie the campaign to Assange, which so far have focused on former Trump adviser Roger Stone and conservative conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi.

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Manafort is currently awaiting sentencing after being convicted in August on eight countsof financial fraud in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. He also entereda separate guilty plea in the District of Columbia as part of deal with the government in which he agreed to cooperate with Mueller's team.

But on Monday, the special counsel's office said Manafort lied repeatedly to the FBI after agreeing to cooperate and recommendedthat he get no credit to reduce his prison sentence. He faces the prospect of perhaps a decade in prison in the D.C. case alone.

Assange has taken refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London since 2010, largely out of concern the U.S. would seek his extradition on charges related to WikiLeaks' publication of confidential State Department cables.

Lastweek, prosecutors inadvertentlydisclosedthat "Assange has been charged" in an unrelated case, although it was not revealed what the charges were, nor when and where the alleged crime occurred. A judge is currently reviewing journalists' request to unseal the charges.

More: No decision yet on unsealing possible charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

"If true, the revelation that Paul Manafort repeatedly met with Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London raises serious new questions about Mr. Manaforts relationship with WikiLeaks," Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said in a statement Tuesday.

"Given that Secretary Pompeo met with Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Valencia yesterday morning, the State Department and the intelligence community must immediately brief the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Mr. Manaforts interaction with Mr. Assange, as well as the Ecuadoran governments role in any meetings," Menedez said. "Similarly, as evidence continues to mount about WikiLeaks interference in the 2016 U.S. election, Ecuadors government must reevaluate the risks of harboring an individual who has damaged democratic processes around the world."

More: Ex-Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos begins two-week prison sentence

Contributing: Kevin Johnson

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Paul Manafort, Julian Assange held secret meetings ...

Donald Trumps former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and visited around the time he joined Trumps campaign, the Guardian has been told.

Sources have said Manafort went to see Assange in 2013, 2015 and in spring 2016 during the period when he was made a key figure in Trumps push for the White House.

In a statement, Manafort denied meeting Assange. He said: I have never met Julian Assange or anyone connected to him. I have never been contacted by anyone connected to WikiLeaks, either directly or indirectly. I have never reached out to Assange or WikiLeaks on any matter.

It is unclear why Manafort would have wanted to see Assange and what was discussed. But the last apparent meeting is likely to come under scrutiny and could interest Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor who is investigating alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

A well-placed source has told the Guardian that Manafort went to see Assange around March 2016. Months later WikiLeaks released a stash of Democratic emails stolen by Russian intelligence officers.

Manafort, 69, denies involvement in the hack and says the claim is 100% false. His lawyers initially declined to answer the Guardians questions about the visits.

In a series of tweets WikiLeaks said Assange and Manafort had not met. Assange described the story as a hoax.

Manafort was jailed this year and was thought to have become a star cooperator in the Mueller inquiry. But on Monday Mueller said Manafort had repeatedly lied to the FBI, despite agreeing to cooperate two months ago in a plea deal. According to a court document, Manafort had committed crimes and lies on a variety of subject matters.

His defence team says he believes what he has told Mueller to be truthful and has not violated his deal.

Manaforts first visit to the embassy took place a year after Assange sought asylum inside, two sources said.

A separate internal document written by Ecuadors Senain intelligence agency and seen by the Guardian lists Paul Manaford [sic] as one of several well-known guests. It also mentions Russians.

According to the sources, Manafort returned to the embassy in 2015. He paid another visit in spring 2016, turning up alone, around the time Trump named him as his convention manager. The visit is tentatively dated to March.

Manaforts 2016 visit to Assange lasted about 40 minutes, one source said, adding that the American was casually dressed when he exited the embassy, wearing sandy-coloured chinos, a cardigan and a light-coloured shirt.

Visitors normally register with embassy security guards and show their passports. Sources in Ecuador, however, say Manafort was not logged.

Embassy staff were aware only later of the potential significance of Manaforts visit and his political role with Trump, it is understood.

The revelation could shed new light on the sequence of events in the run-up to summer 2016, when WikiLeaks published tens of thousands of emails hacked by the GRU, Russias military intelligence agency. Hillary Clinton has said the hack contributed to her defeat.

The previously unreported Manafort-Assange connection is likely to be of interest to Mueller, who has been investigating possible contacts between WikiLeaks and associates of Trump including the political lobbyist Roger Stone and Donald Trump Jr.

One key question is when the Trump campaign was aware of the Kremlins hacking operation and what, if anything, it did to encourage it. Trump has repeatedly denied collusion.

Earlier this year Mueller indicted 12 GRU intelligence officers for carrying out the hack, which began in March 2016.

In June of that year WikiLeaks emailed the GRU via an intermediary seeking the DNC material. After failed attempts, Vladimir Putins spies sent the documents in mid-July to WikiLeaks as an encrypted attachment.

According to sources, Manaforts acquaintance with Assange goes back at least five years, to late 2012 or 2013, when the American was working in Ukraine and advising its Moscow-friendly president, Viktor Yanukovych.

Why Manafort might have sought out Assange in 2013 is unclear. During this period the veteran consultant was involved in black operations against Yanukovychs chief political rival, Yulia Tymoshenko, whom Yanukovych had jailed. Manafort ran an extensive lobbying operation featuring European former politicians.

He flew frequently from the US to Ukraines capital, Kiev usually via Frankfurt but sometimes through London, flight records seen by the Guardian show.

Manafort is currently in jail in Alexandria, Virginia. In August a jury convicted him of crimes arising from his decade-long activities in Ukraine. They include large-scale money laundering and failure to pay US tax. Manafort pleaded guilty to further charges in order to avoid a second trial in Washington.

As well as accusing him of lying on Monday, the special counsel moved to set a date for Manafort to be sentenced.

One person familiar with WikiLeaks said Assange was motivated to damage the Democrats campaign because he believed a future Trump administration would be less likely to seek his extradition on possible charges of espionage. This fate had hung over Assange since 2010, when he released confidential US state department cables. It contributed to his decision to take refuge in the embassy.

According to the dossier written by the former MI6 officer Christopher Steele, Manafort was at the centre of a well-developed conspiracy of cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russias leadership. The two sides had a mutual interest in defeating Clinton, Steele wrote, whom Putin hated and feared.

In a memo written soon after the DNC emails were published, Steele said: The [hacking] operation had been conducted with the full knowledge and support of Trump and senior members of his campaign team.

As a candidate Trump warmly welcomed the dump of DNC emails by Assange. In October 2016 he declared: I love WikiLeaks. Trumps comments came after WikiLeaks released a second tranche of emails seized from the email account of John Podesta, Clintons campaign chairman.

The Trump White House subsequently sent out mixed messages over Assange and his legal fate. In 2017 and behind the scenes Assange tried to reach a deal with Trumps Department of Justice that might see him avoid US prison.

In May 2017, , Manafort flew to Ecuador to hold talks with the countrys president-elect Lenn Moreno. The discussions, days before Moreno was sworn in, and before Manafort was indicted were ostensibly about a large-scale Chinese investment.

However, one source in Quito suggests that Manafort also discreetly raised Assanges plight. Another senior foreign ministry source said he was sceptical Assange was mentioned. At the time Moreno was expected to continue support for him.

Last week a court filing released in error suggested that the US justice department had secretly charged Assange with a criminal offence. Written by the assistant US attorney, Kellen Dwyer, the document did not say what Assange had been charged with or when the alleged offence took place.

Originally posted here:
Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian ...

The United States is reportedly closing in on prosecuting Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who has spent over six years holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London avoiding extradition.

But while the ethics of WikiLeaks operations and its motives are contested, the organization has revealed undeniably newsworthy information that authorities sought to keep from the public. These are some of the biggest stories that came from WikiLeaks.

The U.S. Military Killed Civilians And A Reuters Cameraman In Iraq

In 2010, a video shot on board an American helicopter operating in Iraq documented the U.S. killing a 22-year-old Reuters cameraman and his driver in an air attack in Baghdad. WikiLeaks released the footage of the strike, which killed at least a dozen people, in a 38-minute video called Collateral Murder. It shows the graphic killings along with audio of the aircrew laughing and referring to those killed as dead bastards. The U.S. militaryinitially claimedthe Reuters crew was killed in a firefight with insurgents, an explanation that the video contradicted.

The video and more than 700,000 leaked documents sparked a major scandal and outcry from human rights groups. It also led to the arrest of Chelsea Manning, a U.S. intelligence officer who had illegally downloaded the documents from a military base before providing the information to WikiLeaks.

Corruption, Killings And Abuse In Iraq And Afghanistan

After WikiLeaks released the Collateral Murder video, it continued with other document dumps from the Manning files. The documents revealed extensive corruption and human rights abuses in both Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as an apparent lack of action from U.S. officials to investigate or prevent such abuses. Some of the files detailed that U.S. forces knew of Iraqi police abuse, including torture and rape, but often did nothing to punish those acts. Another release concerned U.S. Marines killing or wounding dozens of unarmed civilians near Jalalabad, Afghanistan, while they fled from an attack.

The U.S. Spied On Its Allies And Tapped Foreign Government Phone Calls

A 2015 release revealed the U.S. had been spying on a number of allies, using the National Security Agency to intercept the phone calls of top foreign officials, businesses and leaders. The revelations caused an international political uproar, forcing President Barack Obama to issue apologies to Germany, France, Brazil and Japan all of which were targeted in the spying. In the case of Germany, WikiLeaks alleged the files showed the NSA had tapped the German chancellery going back decades.

Intelligence Reports On Guantanamo Bay Prisoners

Hundreds of reports on operations and inmates at Guantanamo Bay gave insight into operations at the secretive U.S. detention camp and the status of its prisoners. The 2011 release revealedthat dozens of the inmates struggled with depression and mental illness, that the United States was obtaining information through torture, and that some prisoners were detained on slim evidence or because of mistaken identity. The files also showed that 172 of the prisoners there had been deemed high-risk prisoners who would pose a threat to the U.S. if released.

Australias Internet Blacklist

In one of its early leaks from 2009, WikiLeaks published a list of nearly 2,400 web pages that the Australian government was allegedly planning to permanently block access to in the country. The list, which the Australian government disputed, included sites that involved child pornography and extreme violence but also included several other pages that included YouTube videos, WikiLeaks entries and poker sites. The release intensified a public debate over internet censorship, while child rights advocates condemned WikiLeaks for publicizing the names of sites that abuse children.

Kenyas Extrajudicial Killings

WikiLeaks published a suppressed report from Kenyas National Commission on Human Rights in 2008 that contained allegations of extrajudicial police killings in the country. The publication received widespread support from human rights groups, and Amnesty International gave WikiLeaks a media award in 2009 as a result.

The CIA Targeted Smartphones And Computers

Not to be confused with Edward Snowdens leak of documents detailing NSA surveillance measures, WikiLeaks released its own files in 2017 purporting to show the CIAs extensive hacking capabilities. The files alleged the CIA can target individual computers and smartphones with malware that can allow the agency to view the contents of a device. In one especially creepy document, the CIA detailed how it could attack a Samsung smart television so that the device appeared to be in off mode when it was, in fact, turned on and recording conversations around it.

The Inner Workings Of Sony Pictures

A cyber attack exposed thousands of internal documents and emails from Sony Pictures in 2014 as part of a bizarre incident U.S. officials believed was linked to North Korea taking offense at a Seth Rogen comedy that mocked its leader Kim Jong Un. While WikiLeaks wasnt connected to the initial release of the documents, the site later collected and released all of the hacked files in a searchable database that gave an in-depth look at conversations between Hollywoods top executives.

The Hillary Clinton Emails

During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, WikiLeaks released thousands of emails from Hillary Clintons campaign chief, John Podesta, which Russian hackers had stolen from his Gmail account. The emails were an embarrassing look into Clintons private circle and offered her critics an array of easy targets to attack her on, including an email that showed that CNN contributor and later Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile hadleaked a question from a town hall-style Democratic primary debate to Clinton in advance.

The WikiLeaks emails damaged Clinton and her campaign, while the question of who knew about the documents ahead of their release and how the leak relates to Russias interference in the U.S. election is a major focus of special counsel Robert Muellers ongoing investigation. Mueller has questioned many associates of political consultant Roger Stone, who worked for President Donald Trumps campaign, to determine whether Stone or his associates were conduits between WikiLeaks and the Trump campaign.

More:
Julian Assange Faces Federal Charges. But Let's Not Forget What We've ...

The Justice Department is about to indict Julian Assange, the editor of WikiLeaks. Thats according to various reports.

The Democrats are cheering because surely Assange will reveal some deep secrets about Russians and the last presidential election.

In the first place, the media of the world should be coming to Assanges defense. He was, after all, breaking news just like the press does.

But theres something else. Assange hinted prior to the election that the Russians werent the source of all the Democratic Party e-mails he published. What if the leak was from inside the Democratic Party itself?

What if Assanges testimony, when it is forced, shows that the leaker was a disgruntled anti-Hillary Clinton Democrat who happened to be mysteriously murdered in a case that hasnt yet been solved?

That, my friends, is one of the shockers that could hit the press and the financial markets in the months ahead. The Democrats should be careful what they wish for when it comes to Assange.

Bloomberg News reported this week that the Justice Department is looking into whether traders had been using another cryptocurrency to manipulate the price of bitcoin, which has been crashing in value of late.

Let me repeat this. Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies are worthless. All they are is a confidence game a scam. And when the prices drop, there is nothing anyone can do to keep the confidence and the price up except manipulate these phony currencies.

Worthless by the end of 2019: Thats my prediction.

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Julian Assange's indictment may cause trouble for Democrats