The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board applauded Thursday Ecuador’s decision to shut off WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s internet access in the London embassy he has been living in for the past four years.
Ecuador said in a statement Tuesday that it turned off Assange’s internet access on Saturday because “it does not interfere in external electoral processes, nor does it favor any particular candidate.” In response to Ecuador’s decision, the Tribune’s editorial board wrote the piece: “Bravo, Ecuador, for unplugging Assange.”
“This isn’t about silencing Assange and suppressing his operation,” the editorial board wrote. “It’s about preventing the Ecuadorean embassy from doubling as headquarters for a Putin-Assange campaign to discredit Clinton.” (RELATED: WikiLeaks: Kerry Told Ecuador To Shut Us Down To Protect Hillary)
WikiLeaks has continued releasing emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, and Assange denies charges that he is in cahoots with Vladimir Putin. “We have not disclosed our source, and of course, this is a diversion that’s being pushed by the Hillary Clinton campaign. That’s a meta-story,” Assange said in July.
The Tribune story went on to say: “There’s no evidence of Russian/WikiLeaks collusion to influence the U.S election, Nicholas Weaver, a researcher at the International Computer Science Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, tells The Wall Street Journal. But that doesn’t mean we won’t learn tomorrow of some conspiracy that remains unproven today.”
The story goes on to described Assange as a “useful idiot.” While the Tribune’s editorial board has clear disdain for Assange, its reporters have written plenty of stories on the information leaked by WikiLeaks.