Hillary Clinton has lashed out at Julian Assange who was arrested and dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he had resided for years to avoid persecution in the US. She welcomed this new dramatic twist in Assange's story while speaking on the stage of New York City's Beacon Theater amid her speaking tour.
The former secretary of state, who ran for president in 2016, said that the WikiLeaks founder “has to answer for what he has done, at least as it's been charged".
"I think it is clear from the indictment that came out it's not about punishing journalism, it is about assisting the hacking of a military computer to steal information from the United States government, and look, I'll wait and see what happens with the charges and how it proceeds, but he skipped bail in the UK", said Clinton, whose campaign as well as the Democratic National Committee was exposed by WikiLeaks back in 2016 with their stolen emails.
Clinton also seized an opportunity to take aim at Donald Trump’s administration, commenting on the Australian whistleblower’s arrest.
"I do think it's a little ironic that he may be the only foreigner that this administration would welcome to the United States", she stated.
Her invective against Assange received a mixed response online.
READ MORE: Assange Hated Because of Clinton Monopoly on Media – Pamela Anderson
Many lashed out at the former secretary of state, mocking her attack against Assange and insisting it was she who should be behind bars.
Because she doesn't want him talking https://t.co/pEXuRcMh9r
— Headcockdemon (@headcockdemon) April 12, 2019
She has some nerve. Where is all of that money that was collected for Haiti? That's just one question when we all have one hundred.
— Globe trotter (@Nothingfalseh) April 12, 2019
She means "what he did to me."
— K (@k__douglas) April 12, 2019
He knows where she’s buried the bodies
— Marie Dozier⚓️🌊 (@MarieDozier6) April 12, 2019
Cersei demands his punishment.
— Edward Suarez (@EdwardMSuarez) April 12, 2019
Correction: Hillary Clinton has wanted Assange arrested since he published her emails. She should be jailed, not Assange. This is one of many interviews where Hillary is trying to publicly denounce Assange. https://t.co/UUP5FpQ08W
— Joanna Justice💫 (@unikgirl11) April 12, 2019
However, there was no shortage of commenters who joined her in slamming Assange and cheering his arrest.
Seems like all the people who tried to have Hillary locked up….are getting locked up.
— Jon Fitz (@jonfitztv) April 12, 2019
She’s right, she was right in 2016 and she’s still right!
— 94% Fx MpressT 🇯🇲 (@MpressT) April 12, 2019
REMINDER: Julian Assange is not a journalist. He is an asset of the Kremlin.
— 🇺🇸🇵🇷 Name is Bishop🌊 (@BishesBrew) April 12, 2019
After leaking information about US atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan, Julian Assange resided in the Ecuadorian Embassy as an asylee, unable to leave the building. He had resided there for 7 years, until yesterday when he was arrested by UK police on the embassy's premises and forcefully dragged out of the building. Soon after his arrest, the US Justice Department unsealed an indictment accusing Assange of conspiring with former US intelligence analyst Chelsea (then Bradley) Manning to break a computer password in order to access classified government materials.
Within hours, the WikiLeaks founder appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court, where he pleaded not guilty to the charge of failing to surrender to an arrest warrant and skipping bail. He was found guilty, and faces a prison term of up to 12 months when he is sentenced at Crown Court later this month. Whether — if not when — he'll be extradited to the US is unclear.
