GO GREEN PARTY!
Jill Stein: 'No question' Julian Assange is a hero
Washington (CNN)Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein hailed Julian Assange as a hero Saturday, saying the WikiLeaks founder's disclosure of Democratic National Committee emails exposed the American electorate to important information.
Stein's comments to CNN were made shortly before she was named the progressive party's official 2016 presidential nominee, with human rights activist Ajamu Baraka tapped as her running mate.
"Any time that we have efforts to bring information to the American people, to the world, is something worth supporting," Baraka said in a separate interview with CNN.
Last month, WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000 emails that appeared to show the committee favoring presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over progressive challenger Bernie Sanders -- an admired figure among many Green Party supporters -- during the primary season. The disclosure led to the resignation of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the ouster of several top DNC officials.
The suspicion that Russia could have been behind the hacking has raised concerns of a foreign state or actor meddling in the US presidential election. But both Stein and Baraka dismissed those anxieties.
"This is routine," said Stein, who added that there was "no question" Assange is a hero. "This is what state departments do to one another."
Added Baraka: "I'm concerned that people are more concerned with the source than the revelations." He said the focus on Russia was a "diversionary" tactic.
Assange, who has been granted asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London amid sexual assault allegations, also addressed the Green Party's convention on Saturday via satellite, telling supporters at the University of Houston that being told one has to vote for Clinton because the only alternative is Donald Trump is "a form of extortion."
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/06/politi...ty-convention/
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NEVER HILLARY!