The Guardian made a series of post-publication edits to the headline and body of a story that claims former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2013, 2015, and 2016 after the whistleblowing publisher denounced the story as fake. WikiLeaks subsequently announced a legal fund to sue the newspaper.
Shortly after attacking the Guardian‘s story, WikiLeaks announced on Twitter the opening of a crowdfunding campaign to cover the cost of a lawsuit against the newspaper.
WikiLeaks launches legal fund to sue the Guardian for publishing entirely fabricated story “Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian embassy” — which spread all over the world today. It is time the Guardian paid a price for fabricating news. https://t.co/VaoMESN5RO
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) November 27, 2018
“Remember this day when The Guardian permitted a serial fabricator to totally destroy the paper’s reputation,” said the organization’s official account on Twitter.
“WikiLeaks is willing to bet The Guardian a million dollars and its editor’s head that Manafort never met Assange,” the account continued.
They then proceeded to document numerous post-publication changes to The Guardian’s story.
Ninety minutes after publication the Guardian modifies its “Manafort held secret talks with Assange” headline to add “, sources say”. pic.twitter.com/zcg8cQcYGq
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) November 27, 2018
Guardian quietly edits itself away from completely fabricated blockbuster “Manafort visited Assange at embassy” story. Expect more changes. Will editor @KathViner resign? https://t.co/JgEXSTXFzg pic.twitter.com/93mdLRtncb
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) November 27, 2018
@KathViner We’re going to charge 10% interest, compounding, on the $1.000.000 and publish a new figure every week until the Guardian pays up and you resign. pic.twitter.com/gctUS32Hl2
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) November 27, 2018
The Guardian’s story claims that Manafort met with Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on three separate occasions — 2013, 2015, and March 2016. The claims are based on an anonymous source that the newspaper claims is “well-placed.”
Although embassy logs reportedly show no evidence of Manafort’s visit, the Guardian claims to have seen an internal document written by Ecuadorian intelligence that “lists ‘Paul Manaford [sic]’ as one of several well-known guests.”
Rudy Giuliani, lawyer to President Trump, commented on the Manafort-Assange story, saying it was “unequivocally fake news, I am told.”
. @RudyGiuliani tells me: “Unequivocally fake news I am told” in reference to the report that Manafort met with Assange in 2016.
— Kristen Welker (@kwelkernbc) November 27, 2018
Jeet Heer, a progressive writer for the far-left New Republic, advised caution about the Guardian’s report.
There are genuine grounds to be cautious about the report. It is based on anonymous sources, some of whom are connected with Ecuadorian intelligence. The logs of the embassy show no such meetings. The information about the most newsworthy meeting (in the spring of 2016) is vaguely worded, suggesting a lack of certitude.
Breitbart News will continue to cover WikiLeaks’ claims against the Guardian.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter, Gab.ai and add him on Facebook. Email tips and suggestions to allumbokhari@protonmail.com.
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