Now we know how Robert Mueller is connected to Ecuador’s sudden crackdown on Julian Assange

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On Wednesday of this week, Ecuador cut off internet access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who has been holed up in the basement of its embassy in London for years. At the time, Palmer Report spelled out that this was occurring just as Robert Mueller was moving closer to Assange, including a grand jury targeting Roger Stone’s communications with Assange. We pointed out the the two had to be related, but we weren’t sure specifically how. Now we have answers.

It turns out Robert Mueller had the FBI detain Roger Stone associate Ted Malloch at an airport on Wednesday, in order to question him about what he knew of Stone and WikiLeaks, and to ask him whether he had ever visited Assange at the Embassy. We still don’t know if Mueller is targeting Malloch as a suspect or a witness. But in general, we’ve seen a pattern in which Mueller doesn’t ask witnesses these kinds of questions unless he already knows the answer. The same day that Mueller detained Malloch over his connections to Assange, Ecuador suddenly cracked down on Assange.

These two developments cannot be a coincidence. The only remaining question here is regarding the precise sequence of events. Did Malloch tell Mueller something about Assange, which Mueller then relayed to Ecuador, prompting Ecuador to crack down on Assange? Did Ecuador simply hear about Mueller’s detention of Malloch, and piece something together based on what it already knew? Malloch was, after all, on his way from London to the United States when Mueller detained him.

It doesn’t matter that we don’t yet know the finer details of what transpired here, because Robert Mueller does. One way or the other, Ecuador is now spooked enough about continuing to harbor Julian Assange that it began cracking down on him just as Mueller detained a key Stone-Assange witness. Mueller is rapidly moving in on Assange, and Ecuador knows it. Stay tuned.

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