State Department Spox Claims Publications of WikiLeaks and Assange Harmed Numerous People But Can’t Provide Any Examples

EXCERPT:

MILLER: “We were happy to work with our Australian colleagues on it, and that remains the case. I do think it is important, when we talk about Julian Assange, to remind the world that the actions for which he was indicted and for which he has now pled guilty are actions that put the lives of our partners, our allies, and our diplomats at risk, especially those who work in dangerous places like Afghanistan and Iraq. This was some years ago now, almost 15 years ago, so I think the world has forgotten much of it, but if you recall when WikiLeaks first disseminated and published State Department documents, State Department cables, they did so without redacting names; they just threw them out there for the world to see. And so the documents they published gave identifying information of individuals who were in contact with the State Department. That included opposition leaders, human rights activists around the world whose positions were put in some danger because of their public disclosure. It also chilled the ability of American personnel to build relationships and have frank conversations with them. And at the time, those of you who covered the State Department at the time will probably remember that in the days leading up to that release, the State Department really had to scramble to get people out of danger, to move them out of harm’s way. It was an extraordinary effort performed by dozens of government officials around the world, but that doesn’t change the danger that those actions put innocent people all around the world in through no fault of their own. And that’s, of course, not even to mention the further actions by WikiLeaks down the road to essentially serve as a conduit for Russian intelligence interfering in a U.S. presidential election.”