David House on Bradley Manning, secret WikiLeaks Grand Jury, and US Surveillance

On the eve of the extradition hearing for WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange in London, US broadcaster Democracy Now! spent an exclusive hour with David House, who co-founded the Bradley Manning Support Network after US Army Private Manning was arrested for allegedly releasing classified U.S. military documents to WikiLeaks. (See video below.)

House refused to testify last month in Alexandria, Virginia, before a grand jury hearing on WikiLeaks and the disclosure of thousands of classified US diplomatic cables. Democracy Now! spoke to House at the Frontline Club about the significance of WikiLeaks, how he helped found the Bradley Manning Support Network, his visits with Manning at the Quantico Marine Base in Virginia, the federal surveillance he and his associates have come under, and his experience before the grand jury.

“In my mind, this reeks of the Pentagon Papers investigation,” says House. “Richard Nixon’s [Department of Justice] 40 years ago attempted to curtail the freedoms of the press and politically regulate the press through the use of policy created around the espionage investigation of the New York Times. I feel the WikiLeaks case we have going on now provides Obama’s DOJ ample opportunity to continue this attempt to politically regulate the U.S. media.”

The full transcript of the interview can be found here.