Reminder Julian Assange is an asshole.
In 2009, Wikileaks published a deceptively curated collection of emails obtained from a Russian server and belonging to the Climactic Research Unit.
The goal of this operation was a disinformation campaign designed to instill fear, uncertainty, and doubt about climate science during the Copenhagen Climate Summit of 2009 (COP15).
Subsequent investigations revealed no wrongdoing on the part of the scientists.
https://www.newsweek.com/climate-gate-fake-news-climate-denialism-1471826
@bascule I'm very ambivalent on Assange and Wikileaks. They started off with lots of promise, but their failure to put some basic journalistic safeguards in place turned them into a tool of disinfo agitprop merchants. See also the Pizzagate debacle. WL probably tipped the 2016 US election through its malfeasance.
Assange, for his part, is a dick. That does not mean he should have been pursued by the feds for "espionage," but he does need to be accountable for poor decisions.
@phil_stevens @bascule This was my take, then and now. And since the time he "fled persecution", those who actually did the leaks, did time in prison for specific charges relating to espionage. And they stand by their actions.
Here's two who were involved in exposing abuses by US and AUS military forces. https://www.laprogressive.com/law-and-justice/david-mcbride
