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RE: Congress Hears WikiLeaks is ‘Fundamentally Different’ From Media | Threat Level | Wired.com

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RE: Congress Hears WikiLeaks is ‘Fundamentally Different’ From Media | Threat Level | Wired.com
by noteworthy at 7:29 pm EST, Dec 16, 2010

Decius:

I wish I was responding to a transcript not a paraphrase but this will have to do for now

Thus far Lexis-Nexis only has the prepared testimony, not the transcript of the hearing. And interestingly LN doesn't have the testimony for Wainstein, although it does have the testimony of four others.

C-SPAN has an unofficial transcript based on uncorrected closed captioning.

Here is an unofficial transcription of the start of his testimony, which begins at approximately 41:30 into the hearing:

I want to thank you again, Judge Goemer, and members of the committee, it's an honor to appear before you today along with this panel of distinguished experts and to testify about the recent Wikileaks releases. This situation reflects a fundamental tension in our democracy: on one hand, there's the importance of the free press, and the need to think very long and very hard before taking any steps that may chill the media's reporting on the workings of government. On the other hand, there's the need to keep our national security operations confidential, so that we can effectively defend our nation against the threats it faces. Stephen Vladeck and I testified about this very issue before the Senate Judiciary Committee just this May, and at that time our concern revolved primarily around the possibility of a leak to a traditional news organization. Since May, however, we've all learned that there is a much more serious threat -- the threat posed by an organization that's committed not to the traditional media function of reporting newsworthy information, but to the mass and indiscriminate disclosure of sensitive information. Thanks to Wikileaks, the government now has two very important decisions to make: the first is whether to prosecute Assange and Wikileaks. The second is whether to revise the laws -- the Espionage Act -- to strike a better and clearer balance between security and freedom of the press.

RE: Congress Hears WikiLeaks is ‘Fundamentally Different’ From Media | Threat Level | Wired.com


 
 
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