Thanks for the tip, Mirjam.
The Frontline Club video (“PRESS CONFERENCE: Rudolf Elmer”) is approximately 1 hour 10 minutes, but it is worth listening to. It gives a fairly clear overview of the situation regarding Mr Rudolf Elmer and the Swiss banking scandal, and shows how Mr Assange and Mr Elmer are subjected to similar attempts at character assassinations in media and government circles.
But what was seemingly out of place was the blatancy with which Mr Elmer passed over his data to Mr Assange-as-WikiLeaks-representative. Mr Elmer pulled out his data discs, held them up for all to see, and passed them directly into Mr Assange’s hands.
Such obvious information passing is clearly outside of the usual operating procedures of WikiLeaks, which has committed significant resources to ensuring the anonymity of its sources. Here we all can see photographic evidence of a leak; the cloak of anonymity was voluntarily cast aside by the source himself.
Clearly this is the start of something new and exciting. Mr Assange and WikiLeaks would not abandon anonymity protection lightly, and for that matter neither would Mr Elmer. Both have something to gain by casting off anonymity and standing in the glare of the press.
Mr Elmer, perhaps, cast off his potential anonymity as a WikiLeaks source for reasons both defensive and political. His public leaking is defensive, because now he is tied irrevocably to the WikiLeaks ‘crowd’, and enjoys a much higher profile because of this. His summary execution would be, at this point, a very stupid move indeed, and terribly obvious as a vindictive move from elements involved in his case.
Political reasons are relatively simple: as Mr Elmer himself discusses in the video, there have been libelous – I should hope – statements in Swiss newspapers regarding his mental state. By making this leak public, he draws attention to his true nature. He is an accountant trying to do his job, in the course of which he has been foiled at almost every turn by the ‘legitimate’ channels.
However, it is Mr Assange’s participation in this which seems more curious. To my eyes, he seemed somewhat uncomfortable with the situation. I’d have to think that this would make his situation in legal procedings somewhat more difficult, as here we have proof that he is accepting ‘sensitive’ information directly from sources.
But, nevertheless, there he was, taking two data discs from Mr Elmer. I’ve great confidence in Mr Assange; he does not do anything without a plan. Besides the obvious – ie new information for WikiLeaks – he and WikiLeaks had something else to gain.
This, I posit, is the next phase in WikiLeaks publishing action, centred around playing the same gameplan as the opponents of WikiLeaks. Namely, aiming for the pocketbook. The play against WikiLeaks, since the start of Cablegate, has been to cut off funding. Information, like the already-known ‘major US bank’ files, as well as this new information from Mr Elmer, is in kind.
The corruption which Mr Elmer’s files will reveal will undoubtedly centre around financial, political, and industrial elites, many of which will also be opposed to WikiLeaks; indeed, they are potentially behind the attempts to penalise WikiLeaks through financial means. The coming move by WikiLeaks to release bank-related material is the same technique, but on a bigger scale.
I have no doubt, that individuals throughout the world involved in tax evasion schemes are not altogether happy right now. Once this information comes out of WikiLeaks, taxation authorities across the world will have no choice but to act. They will have not only their legitimacy on the line, but also – at least in the US – their paycheque. US taxation authorities are paid a commission on how much money they successfully extract from tax evasion trials. These corrupt elites will be more than just sitting ducks in the eyes of the tax authorities: they are the biggest payday ever.
Never underestimate the power of pure greed. The elites would understand the beauty of this manouevre – if they possessed a sense of irony, which they don’t. They will be ensnared by the very ethics which they hold so dear: the pursuit of profits.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Letters from a Broken Country 
Sara Linden
18/01/2011
HI Andrew,
I’m a tad put off by this public display, and I posted this on FB regarding this topic–
I have, on one hand, a sense that WL is accepting this non-anonymous material in order to help promote the act of whistleblowing, to support the process, etc. And that, I think, could definitely serve its purpose well. Maybe the unusualness, the step away from usual WL’s procedure is catching my attention.
I’m not sure if maybe it’s just a cultural think– I’m not familiar at all with Swiss customs and mannerisms, (and I’m from the US) so I don’t know if maybe my unease comes from that in some way. I would say that I’m definitely not completely unfamiliar with other cultures, in fact I have a real interest in anthropology/archaeology and French culture, having even studied in France for a while. So, I am aware that cultural barriers may be playing some role in my unease, even though I don’t get this sense from cultures unfamiliar to mine generally.
I think, aside from my unease from watching Elmer speak, was then compounded by Assange’s reaction. I could be making this all up, or perhaps he was just a bit harried from being late to the meeting, but his usual calm demeanor seemed a little…off?… while accepting the disks. You noticed this too, so I guess I’m not completely on my own in this observation (although I don’t know precisely at what point you’re thinking Assange seemed uncomfortable).
Anyway, just my two cents.
Andrew McInnes
18/01/2011
Hi Sara,
I’d say Mr Elmer’s nervousness was probably infecting the room. He’s an accountant, after all, and is not used to large amounts of public visibility. His move here is very much outside of the box for him, but it sounds like his back is against the wall. That level of focus is pretty intense, so it would make almost anyone uneasy without the emotional build-up to that state.
Mr Assange seemed unhappy about being late, and considering the comment at the beginning of the video (‘no talking about Sweden please’) it might have had something to do with his extradition. He was not pleased with being late, of course, but neither would I be. That was an important press conference, after all! Another reason for his being late was simply getting permission from the courts/police to leave Vaughan Smith’s estate for non-extradition/bail reasons.
That might have had a hand in how uncomfortable he seemed, when first accepting the data discs from Mr Elmer. It would be too easy to over-analyse: Mr Assange is under very great stress, and if he had needed to badger the courts for clearance to go to this conference, he might have felt edgy about doing anything out of line. He had been granted a ‘priviledge’, after all, to be at the Club, so he probably would have wanted to not push the envelope overmuch.
I hope that helps, at least a little bit. Keep posting if it isn’t! It’s great to analyse things. 🙂
–Andrew
aru
18/01/2011
When I first read that Mr.Elmer was going to be stopping in London and handing over data to WL before proceeding to Switzerland, I thought it was a masterstroke. And I could see that it would be beneficial to both WL and Mr.Elmer.
But I too felt a little uneasy when viewing the conference. Perhaps it was just jarring to me because I had gotten used to WL press conferences being conducted on JA’s frequency.
And everybody seemed a little tense, perhaps ‘cos of the judicial situations of both or just because of JA’s delay.
I found it interesting that both of them tried to distance themselves from each other personally and did not endorse one another unequivocally.
Also, I hope they either use a bigger conference room in the future for WL related activities or limit the attendees.
Few of Mr.Elmer’s thoughts about WL:
swissinfo.ch: Do they check everything?
R.E.:… I can only talk about the Julius Bär case. One thing that’s certain is that with Julius Bär, genuine and forged documents were published – the latter probably to spread disinformation since Julius Bär couldn’t shut down Wikileaks. Uploading fake data was the only way to question the credibility of the information on Wikileaks.
Unfortunately this also shows that Wikileaks didn’t check the data professionally. This is a general weakness of Wikileaks. That said, one should as a matter of principle question all information, including that found in the media.
…
swissinfo.ch: Are whistle-blowers important for democracy – or are they a danger?
…The publishing by Wikileaks of names of informers and military personnel in Afghanistan could potentially result in retribution against third parties. We’re talking life or death for informers, soldiers and even civilians. I condemn the disclosure of these names and I hope Wikileaks abandons this practice.
I also think it’s dangerous when one person – in this case Julian Assange – embodies so much power and uses it for his personal ends. I hope he returns Wikileaks to what it was 12 months ago: a whistle-blower website that regularly publishes abuses in diverse areas. That is what society needs in our media-manipulated world.
…
swissinfo.ch: What do you make of the latest revelations?
…I also can’t believe that the bulk of global diplomacy goes on at this level. For this reason I am convinced that the harm caused by the latest Wikileaks release is greater than the benefit to society.
I can imagine it could also be revenge in response to the smear campaign against Julian Assange….
Andrew McInnes
19/01/2011
Hi Aruna,
Thank you for your thoughts and link! That’s a very telling and informative interview with Mr Elmer.
It is a strange situation between Mr Elmer and Mr Assange/WikiLeaks. Personally, I think that Mr Elmer is just a dutiful accountant. He wants to do his job, and do it through the proper channels. It’s quite possible that he sees resorting to passing information to WikiLeaks as a defeat of his principles and dedication to ‘the system’. Hence, his discomfort with the situation of handing over data to WikiLeaks.
The distancing was probably self-defence on the part of both Mr Elmer and Mr Assange/WikiLeaks. For WikiLeaks, there is also the concern of ensuring their policy that all sources will be treated equally. This is perhaps why Mr Assange was adamant that Mr Elmer’s data would receive no special treatment, and that WikiLeaks could not endorse the actions of a source for fear of easy legal reprisals.
Thanks again,
–Andrew
aru
18/01/2011
link to the above interview :
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/Society_needs_whistle-blowers.html?cid=28946382
aru
19/01/2011
I also thought JA found it a little bit amusing to be holding up the CDs in front of the journos, while standing alongside the leaker 🙂
An update of the court hearing of Mr.Elmer:
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/924333–swiss-banker-fined-after-giving-wikileaks-tax-evader-files
…
Appearing before a single judge at Zurich’s administrative court Wednesday, Elmer admitted sending threatening messages to some bank officials, but insisted he had done so after the bank fired him from his job as chief operating office on the Cayman Islands and then intimidated him.
He denied issuing a bomb threat against the bank, but admitted threatening to send details on its exclusive offshore clients to tax authorities in Switzerland, Britain and the United States.
…
Elmer is alleged to have posed at times as a member of a Mexican drugs cartel, at others he used the name “Robin Hood.”
“I wouldn’t say it was revenge, but I defended myself,” he later told reporters. “That’s human nature.”
…
Andrew McInnes
19/01/2011
Yes, I’m sure it was a bit amusing and disconcerting for him! So much for anonymous leaking… 😛
Interesting story about Mr Elmer; I found this bit especially amusing:
“Elmer has been trying to portray himself as a whistleblower for a long time,” said Daniel Thelesklaf, a transparency campaigner and head of the think tank Basel Institute on Governance.
Financial journalists and campaign groups have been wary of the files Elmer provided them, said Thelesklaf.
“Nobody wanted his information, which indicates the low quality of the data,” he said.
“WikiLeaks should examine the CDs very carefully because they can’t afford to put forged documents online,” said Thelesklaf. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re never published.”
How “nobody want[ing] his information” logically connects to “indicates… low quality… data” is beyond me. I think it makes more sense that, since this information is so damaging toward Very Important People, corrupted authorities would turn a blind eye. Additionally, if the data was indeed “low quality”, why on earth would have Mr Elmer been rearrested for leaking the blasted documents in London? This is Alice in Wonderland logic at its finest.
Yaaaawn at Mr Thelesklaf; his propaganda is dull and flaccid. I, for one, would not be surprised if the files have his name in them.
Just saying.
–Andrew
000
23/01/2011
And added to that, he had the temerity to underline the fact that he actually didn’t know whether Mr.Elmer was the actual leaker or not! 😀
Thank goodness he didn’t say anything about the CDs!
I wonder what charges have been made for Mr.Elmer’s rearrest. I thought the CDs had the data he collected from his whistle-blowing site. If so, this is a test case scenario for WL/JA’s Swiss residency plans as well.
Andrew McInnes
23/01/2011
And I believe he did his underlining with a snarky little smile too. 😀
Most likely there are no real charges, just like how Mr Elmer’s ‘punishment’ in the previous trial amounted to little more than a slap on the wrist for propreity’s sake. I’d say the Swiss are clearly unhappy with the banks, not Mr Elmer; they’ll treat him as leniently as possible to make it seem as if they’re following the rules, whilst they quietly wait to get the information from WikiLeaks.
The banking and tax evasion world is going to be interesting in a few weeks!