Assange Threatened to Sue Guardian Over Leaked Cables

Vanity Fair probes WikiLeaks' relationship with media partners
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 6, 2011 5:59 AM CST
Assange Threatened to Sue Guardian Over Leaked Cables
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange delivers a statement to the media outside the High Court, London, after his release on bail, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010.    (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Julian Assange, allegedly a slave to transparency, threatened to sue the Guardian if it printed stories based on cables leaked without his permission, according to a lengthy Vanity Fair investigation of WikiLeaks' troubled relationship with its media partners. The threat came after a disgruntled WikiLeaks volunteer gave the newspaper documents Assange hadn't authorized. "Assange’s position was rife with ironies," notes reporter Sarah Ellison.

The Guardian became the first of WikiLeaks' media partners after investigative reporter Nick Davies tracked down Assange last summer, shortly after the site had published a classified video showing a US helicopter shooting civilians in Iraq. Assange later invited other papers, including the New York Times and Spain's El Pais, to join the collaboration, but the uneasy marriage quickly became troubled, particularly over the issue of editing out sensitive information. "Everyone's a cheat," complained one editor.
(More Julian Assange stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X