Obama-Era Intelligence Officials Tried To Classify Journalists, WikiLeaks As ‘Information Brokers’ To Surveil Them
September 27, 2021 By Jordan Davidson
Obama-era intelligence officials tried to use their power to surveil journalists they didn’t agree with, a new report from Yahoo News states.
The crux of the report, co-written by notable Russia hoaxer Michael Isikoff, focuses on former CIA director Mike Pompeo’s approach to handling WikiLeaks. Isikoff and his co-authors maintain that Pompeo was “seeking revenge” on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that Pompeo’s CIA had serious “discussions over kidnapping or killing Assange” for leaking CIA data. The report notes “there is no indication that the most extreme measures targeting Assange were ever approved, in part because of objections from White House lawyers” but maintained that Pompeo labeled WikiLeaks a “non-state hostile intelligence service” so U.S. officials could take action against the data leaker.
This campaign targeting WikiLeaks, the article eventually notes, stretches back to the Obama administration. At first, the report indicates that the Obama administration “restricted investigations into Assange and WikiLeaks” but shortly after infamous National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden left the U.S. with classified information, “the Obama administration allowed the intelligence community to prioritize collection on WikiLeaks,” recently retired counterintelligence official William Evanina indicated to Yahoo News.
more
https://thefederalist.com/2021/09/27/obama-era-intelligence-officials-tried-to-classify-journalists-wikileaks-as-information-brokers-to-surveil-them/
