Tipsheet

Report: Clinton Mulled Killing Wikileaks' Julian Assange With A Drone Strike

Okay—I want to start by saying that this isn’t verified, but it looks as if Clinton mulled whether to take out Wikileaks’ Julian Assange through a drone strike. Assange’s organization published scores of emails from the Democratic National Committee prior to the party’s convention in Philadelphia, showing that DNC officials discussed ways to torpedo Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) presidential campaign. That led to multiple resignations from the committee’s executive leadership.

Yet, Assange has also been a thorn in the side of U.S. government officials, releasing hundreds of thousands of documents on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars—all thanks to Chelsea Manning burning those documents onto a Lady Gaga CD. Manning is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence for unlawful disclosure of state secrets. Yet, the leaked information from State apparently drove Clinton up the wall, which is where this talk of possibly hitting Assange with a drone was reportedly discussed, though it might have been in jest.

These remarks were made by Secretary Clinton in 2010, again—from a yet to be confirmed 302 report from the FBI. The Washington Examiner’s Rudy Takala had more:

…[E]mails previously released from Clinton's private server reveal Anne Marie Slaughter, a former director of policy planning at the State Department, sent an email on the same day in 2010 on the subject of possible "nonlegal strategies" for dealing with WikiLeaks. That email also notes that a meeting was held that day to discuss WikiLeaks.

[…]

The message, which included an attached memo that neither WikiLeaks nor federal investigators were able to obtain, was addressed to Clinton's chief of staff Cheryl Mills, deputy chief Huma Abedin and top aide Jacob Sullivan.

A so-called "302 report" disclosed by the FBI to congressional investigators last month indicated Clinton had "many discussions" pertaining to eliminating targets using drone strikes. "Clinton could not recall a specific process for nominating a target for a drone strike and recalled much debate pertaining to the concurrence process.

"Clinton could not recall a specific process for nominating a target for a drone strike and recalled much debate pertaining to the concurrence process. Clinton knew there was a role for DoD, State and the CIA, but could not provide specifics as to what it was," that report said.

Takala added that former Fox News commentator Bob Beckel suggested killing Assange in 2010, noting that a dead man can’t leak things. Regardless, this cannot be verified and it will certainly be overshadowed by what Wikileaks plans of to release to the public about Clinton. He has another treasure chest worth of documents that’s set to be released this week, though the original plans were scuttled due to security concerns. Many speculate that it will relate to the relationship between the former first lady and the Clinton Foundation. Assange has been rather vocal that Clinton is literally a demon who is going to “hang” all of us once she’s elected, hence his bewilderment as to why the liberal media circles the wagons around her.

The much anticipated document dump will occur at a Berlin press conference via video link at 10 a.m. their time, so 3 a.m. here.