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Its ok for Assange to hire people to steal information but its not ok for the government.

Do you have any credible information that Assange "hired" people to "steal" information?

And, yes, we "the people" grant far reaching powers to government, and thus have the right to put boundaries on those powers.

He didn't hire people, to be sure, but he did actively encourage, _and_ _assist_ someone in doing so. The defenses against this ("he didn't _really_ tell him to do stuff, he was just talking" or "he wasn't _really_ helping crack those passwords, because if he wanted to he could") don't stand up to reasonability.

They have evidence of Assange offering help to Chelsea Manning to try and hack a government server.

That is the assertion of the extradition request. Whether there is evidence is yet to be determined.

I think if Assange actually did help someone to try to access data that they shouldn't have .. that is a legitimate crime that is beyond what a member of the press does.

Having said that, I've never heard that he "hired" anyone to do any such thing.

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