Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy where he continues to seek asylum following an extradition request from Sweden in 2012, on February 5, 2016 in London, England. (Getty)
WikiLeaks alleged early Monday morning on Twitter that Julian Assange’s internet connection was “intentionally severed.”
The dramatic claim – which the organization left unexplained – increased a flurry of rumors that had already sparked due to strange encrypted tweets WikiLeaks posted earlier in the day.
Ecuador has now admitted to severing the link because the country doesn’t want to interfere in the United States election.
The tweet comes as WikiLeaks continues to release a slew of damaging information about Hillary Clinton from the hacked emails of her campaign’s chairman. The Clinton campaign has called the hacking akin to a modern “Watergate,” and has blamed the Russians, which WikiLeaks denies.
The Hill reported that WikiLeaks and Assange were just getting started, writing: “Between now and Election Day on November 8, WikiLeaks is expected to release more than 40,000 more emails about Clinton,” perhaps in batches released almost every day. With so much at stake, concern about Assange is reaching a fever pitch on the internet.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. WikiLeaks Says It Has Activated ‘Contingency Plans’ After the Severing of Assange’s Internet Link
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. (Getty)
The tweet, which was posted on WikiLeaks’ official Twitter site, said that WikiLeaks had activated contingency plans and blamed the act on a “state party.” WikiLeaks did not identify the state party.
Here’s the Tweet getting all of the attention:
Julian Assange’s internet link has been intentionally severed by a state party. We have activated the appropriate contingency plans.
WikiLeaks did not elaborate, although the tweet sparked an immediate flurry of conspiracy theories on the internet.
2. WikiLeaks Posted Strangely Coded Tweets Earlier in the Day Leading Some to Fear Assange Was Dead
Earlier in the day, WikiLeaks posted a series of strange tweets that appeared to be in encrypted code.
That led some to speculate that Assange is dead, said Gizmodo, but there was no evidence of that, although the internet was awash with people theorizing the “pre-commitment” codes were a “deadman’s switch.”
The internet filled with concern about Assange, but others insisted people needed to calm down.
Julian Assange is NOT dead.
However, said Gizmodo, the codes “are proof to anyone reading the documents in the future that their contents remain unchanged.” That means that, had WikiLeaks altered the leaked information, the codes would have changed, said Gizmodo. Thus, it’s believed WikiLeaks offered the odd codes as proof the information was not altered.
3. The Coded Tweets Include a Reference to John Kerry & Come After Democrats Theorized the Hacks Could Be Faked
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. (Getty)
WikiLeaks has not explained the strange codes. However, the posts come after some Democrats had claimed the WikiLeaks’ emails could be Russian fiction. The Daily Caller says the odd tweets reference Ecuador, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Here are the odd coded tweets:
pre-commitment 3: UK FCO f33a6de5c627e3270ed3e02f62cd0c857467a780cf6123d2172d80d02a072f74
pre-commitment 2: Ecuador
eae5c9b064ed649ba468f0800abf8b56ae5cfe355b93b1ce90a1b92a48a9ab72
pre-commitment 1: John Kerry 4bb96075acadc3d80b5ac872874c3037a386f4f595fe99e687439aabd0219809
WikiLeaks has also not explained those tweets further.
4. Assange Remains Holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy, Where He Was Visited by Pamela Anderson
Pamela Anderson brings vegan lunch to Julian Assange, who calls it “torture” t.co/U7BIXR5HiO
On Saturday, October 15, former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson informed the world that she brought Assange a vegan meal to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he is holed up avoiding a Swedish rape allegation he denies.
The New York Daily News said Anderson expressed concern for Assange’s health and joked that Assange said “I tortured him with bringing him vegan food.”
5. The Odd Tweets Come After Days of Hillary Clinton Hacking Revelations
John Podesta, Chairman of the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. (Getty)
The post on Assange’s internet being severed comes after heightened scrutiny of WikiLeaks and Assange as they flood the Internet with hacked emails and documents from Clinton campaign officials and associates. For the last few days, the organization has been posting a slew of emails and documents hacked from the account of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
The Clinton campaign has not confirmed or denied the authenticity of the documents, which have contained a string of revelations, including the full transcripts of several of Clinton’s Goldman Sachs speeches, which she had declined to release despite pressure during the Democratic primary from Bernie Sanders.
Here are some of WikiLeaks’ recent tweets and retweets to give you a flavor:
New WikiLeaks emails show influence of Univision chairman in Clinton campaign t.co/pCfvwcMVTP
CNN falsely states that it unlawful for the public–but not for CNN–to search WikiLeaks #PodestaEmails
RELEASE: Hillary Clinton’s Private #GoldmanSach‘s Paid Speechs – full transcripts, see “attachments” tab at top t.co/j7RD9uY3GJ
RELEASE: The Podesta Emails Part 9 t.co/pE4OgvEowo … #HillaryClinton #imWithHer #PodestaEmails #PodestaEmails9
The WikiLeaks site has been posting damaging hacked information about Clinton and Democrats for months.
