Politics

Tucker Carlson: ‘No One Has Ever Shown That Assange Is A Russian Agent’

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Phillip Stucky Contributor
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Fox News host Tucker Carlson said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange isn’t being arrested because of his ties to Russia, in a Thursday episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

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Carlson said the media has somehow miscast Assange as a Russian spy that had infiltrated the American military.

“If you watch a lot of the coverage of this story today on television, you likely came away with the understanding that Julian Assange is some kind of Russian spy who is in trouble tonight because he stole classified documents from the U.S. government. That is not true, it is factually incorrect. Saying so is not a defense of Assange, we are not here to promote him or excuse any number of things he said over the years that we disagree with. But just so it is clear, whatever his sins, Assange did not steal documents from the United States government,” Carlson said.

“He did not hack the DNC servers, he didn’t break into the John Podesta gmail account. There’s never been proof that he’s working with the Russian government, or ever has worked with the Russian government. Assange has never been charged with any of that and wasn’t today, no matter what they tell you,” Carlson said. (RELATED: Swalwell: ‘Wikileaks Sought To Get Trump Elected’ In 2016)

He then named the person who actually did all of the things that Assange is alleged to have done: Bradley Manning.

“If you are upset about the theft of classified documents from the U.S. government and there is a reason to be, we already know who did that. A 22-year-old army private named Bradley Manning, now named Chelsea Manning. In 2013, Manning pleaded guilty to stealing secret material and got 35 years in prison for it,” Carlson explained.

“Shortly after that, Barack Obama commuted Manning’s sentence, this allowed Manning to leave jail decades early, go back on television as a commentator, and then run for political office. so is your real concern is America’s national security, you have someone to be angry at, Barack Obama, and strangely nobody is,” he concluded. “Instead they are furious with Julian Assange for printing the documents that other people stole.”

Carlson then argued that the real reason that people are after Assange is that he allows Democrats to keep the Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential race narrative alive.

“To be totally clear, no one has ever shown that Julian Assange is a Russian agent,” Carlson began. “The indictment against him today does not say that it doesn’t mention Russia at all. But that does not stop virtually every politician in Washington from repeating Sen. Blumenthal’s line, including many Republicans. Robert Mueller nearly killed the Russian collision hoax and Julian Assange is allowing them to keep it alive. You would think journalists would say something about this. Assange is, after all, one of them,” Carlson said.

“What do you call a man who publishes news for a living? Assange is no sleazier than many journalists in Washington. He’s definitely not more anti-American than the New York Times. He’s broken stories they would have won Pulitzers for,” he concluded. 

Julian Assange was arrested Thursday and will likely be extradited to the United States to face charges related to espionage when he allegedly helped Chelsea Manning steal sensitive documents from the U.S. military.

Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday and took a moment to comment on the arrest made by U.K. police. “I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It’s not my thing and I know there is something having to do with Julian Assange. I’ve been seeing what’s happened with Assange,” he declared.

Swalwell was the latest Democrat to announce his candidacy for president, and he reportedly wants to focus on gun control issues as his core reason for running. “I talked to kids who sit in their classrooms afraid they’ll be the next victims of gun violence. They see Washington do nothing about it after the moments of silence,” Swalwell stated.

“They see lawmakers who love their guns more than our kids and none of that is going to change until we get a leader who is willing to go big on the issues we take on, be bold on the solutions we offer, and do good in the way that we govern. I’m ready to solve these problems. I’m ready to solve these problems. I’m running for president of the United States.”