Christmas Mystery: Did Julian Assange Delete His Own Twitter Account?

In a Christmas Day mystery, the official Twitter account of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was deleted.

And while the internet was rife with conspiracy theories about Twitter disabling the account, it initially appeared that the account was disabled externally between midnight and 1 a.m. GMT, according to Gizmodo.

According to an archived version of his @Julian Assange Twitter account, his most recent tweet was posted on December 22: “A knowledgeable public, is an empowered public, is a free public.”

Also Read: Wikileaks Asked Donald Trump Jr. to Tell Dad to Contest 2016 Election Results

Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012 to avoid extradition to avoid a rape accusation from Swedish prosecutors, has long used the social media site to communicate WikiLeaks plans.

The WikiLeaks Twitter handle as well as one associated with his cat, @EmbassyCat, are still functional on the site.

Twitter has not responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.

#julianassange
Here is the Archive for his posts.https://t.co/TK63xkNFkY
So everyone can stop guessing what he did to get deleted.
Note its not a suspension, or a Ban.
It's a delete.

— DeplorableSue (@SueCFlorida) December 25, 2017

Still, the internet being the internet, many speculated darkly about Assange’s disappearance from one of his favorite online media.

#QANON

Ruh-roh….#JulianAssange Twitter gone pic.twitter.com/1kPdhCJnwH

— Della Gates (@DellaGates_1237) December 25, 2017

Julian Assange was kicked of twitter today cuz he dared to expose the Dem party and the Clinton crime family. Let’s make this very clear. I have never tweeted about Seth Rich. But I believe we can now say, without a shadow of a doubt, the DNC/Clinton’s had him murdered.

— Lawrence Polyakov (@Larrypolya22) December 25, 2017

Narrative: Non-State intelligence asset of Russia and current cupboard resident Julian Assange suspended from twitter for espionage related activities against freely elected European countries and for orchestrating cognitive vote tampering in the USA. https://t.co/kwN5osZudX

— OperationWolverines (@OpWolverines) December 25, 2017

5 Times Trump and His Supporters Flipped on Julian Assange's WikiLeaks (Photos)

Over the years, Republicans — particularly Donald Trump supporters — have done a 180 (or a full 360) in their remarks about WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange. When he leaked on Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016, some Republicans said he was doing America a great service. But now the Trump administration is poised to attempt to convict Assange and WikiLeaks for their leaking activities. Here are five times Trump and his supporters have flipped on the matter.
Twitter
In 2010, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said this about Assange: “He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?”
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In 2016, though, Palin changed her tune. She posted an apology to Assange on Facebook. “I apologize for condemning Assange when he published my infamous (and proven noncontroversial, relatively boring) emails years ago,” she wrote.
Facebook
Way back when, Fox News host Sean Hannity said what Assange was doing was “waging his war on America” and called for his arrest. He also said WikiLeaks stealing and publishing classified documents put lives at risk, as Media Matters reported.
Fox
When Assange started leaking emails from the Clinton campaign, though, Hannity became very friendly. He even brought the WikiLeaks founder onto his show for an interview, saying “America owes you a debt of gratitude.”
Fox
Back in 2010, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said Assange was a terrorist. “Information warfare is warfare. Julian Assange is engaged in warfare. Information terrorism, which leads to people getting killed is terrorism. And Julian Assange is engaged in terrorism.”
NBC
But after the second 2016 presidential debate, Gingrich was on Team Assange. He touted WikiLeaks in the press and even recorded a Facebook video attacking the media for ignoring WikiLeaks documents about Clinton.
Facebook
When WikiLeaks leaked diplomatic cables in 2010, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee advocated for executing U.S. citizens for treason if they worked with the organization.
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Once WikiLeaks turned its attention to Clinton, though, Huckabee was ready to discuss Hillary Clinton’s “criminal enterprise,” as he called it, on “Hannity.” He didn’t, however, have anything to say about where the leaks came from or whether the leakers should be brought up on treason charges.
Fox
Trump had strong words for Wikileaks in 2010. As CNN reported, in an interview with radio host Brian Kilmeade, Trump said of Wikileaks, “I think it's disgraceful, I think there should be like death penalty or something.”
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During the campaign, though, Trump’s support for WikiLeaks was hard to miss. He tweeted over and over again about things WikiLeaks documents about the Clinton campaign, and said at one campaign rally in October, “WikiLeaks has provided things that are unbelievable.”
Getty Images
While Trump repeatedly tweeted about documents released by WikiLeaks aimed at damaging Clinton, he also tweeted it was the “dishonest media” that claimed he was in agreement with WikiLeaks.
Twitter

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Republicans were fans of WikiLeaks during the election, but now the U.S. is looking to charge members of the organization

Over the years, Republicans — particularly Donald Trump supporters — have done a 180 (or a full 360) in their remarks about WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange. When he leaked on Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016, some Republicans said he was doing America a great service. But now the Trump administration is poised to attempt to convict Assange and WikiLeaks for their leaking activities. Here are five times Trump and his supporters have flipped on the matter.

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5 Times Trump and His Supporters Flipped on Julian Assange's WikiLeaks (Photos)

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