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DDB Q&A

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Q: How did everyone at the CCC react to you changing your name to Schmitt? They knew you long before you got involved in WL.
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Q: JA said he thought you suffered from mental illness and you yourself wrote about your strange behaviour on Iceland. Have you ever consulted a clinical psychiatrist about this?
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Q: You admittedly walked out of your collaboration with WL on 5 Feb 2010. You were not involved in the CM video or any of the other releases after that. Why did you expect to be kept in the loop when it was obvious to you that you were being phased out? And how could you actually know anything about what was going on when you were no longer together with Julian?
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Q: You say the German media consistently misunderstood your role and position with WL. You also write about how your wife tweeted about meeting the cofounder of WL. How do all these people get the story wrong?
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Q: Why do you think, if you offer to help someone else in their enterprise, that you suddenly have a right to take over and do things your way? There may be details missing in your narratives which might help people understand.
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Q: You've said numerous times that you spent 3 years helping build up WikiLeaks. Which three years are you referring to? You were involved as of January 2008 and left of your own volition 5 February 2010. Where's the third year?
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Q: You and Julian had a good time on stage at CCC December 2009. What happened? After all: you're only a month away at that time from your definitive break with WL.
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Q: 'The idea that I was using his WL to get women must have kept him awake at night.' That was just a really dumb remark. Do you really think JA was jealous of you at any point in time? Do you regret writing such poison nonsense as you did?
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Q: 'He probably imagined me hogging the conversation at the kiosk, surrounded by ten supermodels to whom I related one boastful WL story after another and who ultimately threw themselves at my feet.' Why do you think that? Don't you think JA would know you better and know that you'd never get one single supermodel, no matter how much fame and fortune you have, much less ten?
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Q: 'Julian accused me of being most afraid that someone from the club would take away my job. That was a misapprehension. What actually bothered me most was that someone might be manoeuvring behind my back...' So you were afraid of conspiracies at the CCC against you? Whatever happened there? Why would your friends at the CCC trust JA more than they trusted you?
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Q: Why couldn't you pay your CCC dues?
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Q: You admitted you stirred things up at EDS before you left, effectively shafting your colleagues there. You admit stealing confidential documents and sensitive code from WikiLeaks, although your reasons for doing so seem to change over time. How do you expect to overcome the cynicism people have towards you and how do you plan to overcome the apprehension whistleblowers will have in trusting you?
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Q: What happens with whistleblower documents none of your media partners want to publish? Will you hold these partners accountable? Will you publish if they don't? What happens to your whistleblowers? What happens to the individuals involved in the actual documents whose lives may be in peril if their story doesn't surface in time? What explicit promises are you giving your potential whistleblowers?
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Q: You write of the CCC: '... one person's success can always lead to jealousy among others. That happens in the best associations'. Do you really believe that?
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Q: You write that JA said 'true commitment could only be attained when they come to get you' when in fact he called it 'true belief', based on First Circle and a piece comparing this ontological phenomenon with seeing the rings of Saturn for the first time with the naked eye. Why do you deliberately skew what JA writes or is this yet another innocent mistake?
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Q: You write: 'I had recently bought a year-long rail pass that allowed me to go wherever I wanted by train. The money for the pass, 3,800 euros, came from the sum that had accumulated at the Wau Holland Foundation.' Was this expenditure approved?
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Q: You write that you gave up your flat (and only residence) in July 2009 and only got a place to stay when you hooked up with Anke after returning to Germany from Iceland on 5 February 2010. Where did you live for those seven months? You write that you 'stayed with friends'. Did these people know what you were doing? How did you deal with security issues when staying with them? How much did you share?
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Q: You write that you know the CM video was not encrypted and you know this 'for a fact'. How did you know this when you never saw it and were nowhere near Iceland where the WL crew worked on it?
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Q: You write that Julian said 'do not challenge leadership in times of crisis'. Another way of putting it is 'chain of command'. Why do you find this so strange? Do you really feel it's OK to attack a leader when the leader and the organisation are both under severe pressure? Why would you choose such a moment to go rogue when you're fully aware this can completely cripple any organisation? Is this part of the same pattern as sending out incendiary missives to EDS management that get all your colleagues in trouble?
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Q: You write: 'when the chips were down, we still worked well as a team'. This includes your 'palace revolt' as soon as JA got in trouble in Sweden? Why is that situation any different? Why did you chose that moment to attack? Your reference is to your assigned task of preparing for the US press conference about CM. This is then about your own attitude and no one else's. Why is this significant?
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Q: You've stated on at least one occasion that people can't trust translations of your book. Why then should they bother reading the book at all?
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Q: Don't you think you could have written a better book if you'd taken the time to 'cool' down a bit after losing your temper like that on so many successive occasions?
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Q: You state that you don't know what 'insurance.aes256' contains. Why don't you know?
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Q: You've stated that you don't think it's a good idea to distribute 'insurance.aes256' and yet gave copies to 'Green Party politicians, journalists, and figures I knew I could rely upon'. How do you reconcile these two opposing viewpoints? What were your criteria for 'people you could rely on'? You sent 'insurance.aes256' out by snail mall and wrote a cover letter for the package. Did you clear this action with anyone at WL?
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Q: You write: 'The incident was very serious for Jacob. By comparison, Julian's tales of being pursued appear harmless.' Do you see any reason to change that assessment today?
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Q: You write: 'I have always believed the worst we had to fear was getting beaten up by some frat boys or far-right skinheads. No one would hijack an Australian airplane to get rid of Julian Assange.' Did you ever get beat up? Do they have fraternities in Germany? Do you still stand behind that naïve statement today?
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Q: You stated in your 'bespoke' inteview with Der Spiegel on 2010-09-27 that you had no idea how and who made decisions in WL. Why then did you ever feel you were close to the top, not in a cell, and having enough authority to spend the organsation's donation money as you pleased?
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Q: Why do you feel inferior to JA? Please give a complete answer.
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(Thank you.)

Q: What would you have written about if you didn't tell us about your Leberkäse, your nutty cat, your Ovaltine, and your intimate moments huddling together in the dark? How involved were you anyway in all the WikiLeaks releases for 2008 and 2009? You and Julian only shared physical space for two months - is that enough to write an entire book? Even if it's only about your Leberkäse, your nutty cat, your Ovaltine, and your intimate moments huddling together in the dark?
A: (Don't bother.)

Postscript: D (DDB) and B (Birgitta J) Talk Money

D: makes no sense
B: no he thinks it is deeper. that you want to take over
D: deeper in what way? thats BS
B: money and credit
D: yes, right, hahaha. well, this is clarified with everyone else. and we all agree on this being BS
B: yes, good
D: the only one that doesnt get it is J, will be sorted out sometime. i know why he thinks that way
B: i hope so. why
D: few remarks that i made for example. re money for example we had a discussion once about me spending some of that money
B: he thinks you keep taking huge amounts of money
D: and i said that if he doesnt talk to me, i will spend money for necessary expenses, in part because the money here in .de is in large parts a consequence of my work
D: LOL. i took like 15-20k out of this account or so, maximum and all was spent for servers we needed, and stuff like this all 100% accounted for

See Also
The Technological: Daniel Domscheit-Berg: The Reviews
The Technological: The Life and Times of the Leberkäse Kid

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