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WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (KUNA) -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday
authorized "significant" action in the investigation against WikiLeaks founder
Julian Assange, for putting the country's national security "at risk" by
publishing the controversial U.S. diplomatic cables online.
"National security of the United States has been put at risk," Holder said
at a news conference at the Justice Department. "The lives of people who work
for the American people have been put at risk. The American people themselves
have been put at risk by these actions that I believe are arrogant, misguided
and ultimately not helpful in any way. We are doing everything that we can".
British and Swedish authorities have arrest warrants for Australian-born
Assange, 39, who is wanted in Stockholm for sex-crime allegations not related
to the WikiLeaks disclosure of hundreds of classified U.S. State Department
documents to the public. Assange, who has said he has long feared retribution
for his website's disclosures, has denied the rape allegations, calling them a
smear campaign.
The WikiLeaks site has been hit with denial-of-service attacks, which seek
to make a website unavailable. It also has been kicked off servers in the
United States and France.
Holder declined to answer questions Monday about the possibility that the U.
S. government could shut down WikiLeaks, saying he does not want to talk about
capabilities and techniques at the government's disposal.
Holder said he recently authorized a number of steps related to the
WikiLeaks investigation, but would not detail those steps when pressed by
reporters.
"I authorized just last week a number of things to be done so that we can,
hopefully, get to the bottom of this and hold people accountable as they
should be," he said.
"With regard to all the tactics that we can do or can use to ameliorate the
consequences of these actions, I do not want to get into those as well," he
added. "But we will do everything that we can both to hold people accountable
and to minimize the harm that will befall the American people". (end)
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