Assange Enjoys Making Banks Squirm

By Jerry Smith Jan 29 2011
assangewatch.blogspot.com

In a partial transcript released by CBS, Julian Assange says he enjoys making banks squirm wondering who might be the next target of his website WikiLeaks.

"I think it's great. We have all these banks squirming, thinking maybe it's them," Assange said in his '60 Minutes' interview, scheduled to air Sunday.

When asked by interviewer Steve Kroft if he had obtained a five-gigabyte hard drive belonging to one of the bank's executives, as Assange has previously stated, he said, "I won't make any comment in relation to that upcoming publication."

During the interview Assange says he’s done nothing wrong in releasing secret U.S. documents, has never asked or encouraged anyone to take classified material for him or WikiLeaks, and calls the criminal investigation launched by the U.S. into how WikiLeaks acquired the diplomatic cables and military secrets harassment against him.

Assange told Kroft he fully expected the U.S. to retaliate but that the American Government would be unable to take down WikiLeaks.

"The U.S. does not have the technology to take the site down. Just the way our technology is constructed, the way the Internet is constructed," Assange said.

"We've had attacks on particular domain names. Little pieces of infrastructure knocked out. But we now have some 2,000 fully independent in every way websites, where we're publishing around the world. It is -- I mean, it's not possible to do."

Federal prosecutors subpoenaed Twitter for the account details of Assange and Army Private Bradley Manning, trying to find a link between the two men. Manning is currently in custody and is accused of releasing the classified documents, which WikiLeaks and other newspapers have published to the embarrassment of the U.S. Government.

Attorney General Eric Holder vowed that anyone found in violation of U.S. law pertaining to the leaks, will be prosecuted.