Margaret Ratner Kunstler Explained

Margaret Ratner Kunstler is a civil rights attorney who has worked with WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, and Sarah Harrison. She has also worked with Anonymous and was the attorney for Jeremy Hammond.[1] [2] Kunstler graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia Law School. She was the co-chair of the February 2022 Belmarsh Tribunal organized by Progressive International in New York City. After her husband William Kunstler died, a dispute started with his former law partner, Ronald L. Kuby, over the right to use his name.[3]

2016 US Presidential election

See also: Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.

Donald Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks

Messages from WikiLeaks to Donald Trump Jr. identified Kunstler as a person at WikiLeaks for the Trump administration to contact with 'information for publication'. Trump Jr. said he never responded to the request, and that he never communicated directly with Assange and all of his correspondence with WikiLeaks went through "a lady that appeared to work at a law firm".[4]

Roger Stone, Randy Credico and WikiLeaks

Kunstler, who Randy Credico said he is "best friends" with,[5] arranged for Assange to be on Credico's August 25, 2016 radio show.[6] [7] Roger Stone suggested that Kunstler might have been a source for Credico.[8]

The Roger Stone indictment suggests that Kunstler may have been asked to act as an intermediary during the pre-election months. At Stone's trial, Credico testified that Stone was actively trying to get Assange a preemptive pardon,[9] and that he talked to Kunstler about it.[10]

In mid-September 2016, Roger Stone sent Randy Credico an email asking him to check allegations about Hillary Clinton, and Credico forwarded the email to Kunstler. Credico said he didn't take it seriously and sent it to an old account Kunstler didn't check often. On October 1, Credico sent Stone a text message saying "Big news Wednesday...now pretend u don’t know me...Hillary’s campaign will die this week."[11]

In November 2017, Senator Dianne Feinstein sent Kunstler a letter asking Kunstler to testify and turn over communications with the Trump campaign and family, and records "of any effort to obtain or share" hacked emails from the DNC or Clinton campaign. Kunstler refused, citing attorney-client privilege.[12] [13]

In 2017 and 2018, Roger Stone threatened to make Credico's outreach to Kunstler public, and to file a bar complaint against Kunstler.

In 2019, Kunstler was a witness for the government in the case against Roger Stone, where she testified she mostly ignored Credico's email and said she didn't have insider knowledge about Assange's efforts during the 2016 campaign.

Kunstler v. Central Intelligence Agency

See main article: Kunstler v. Central Intelligence Agency. Kunstler v. Central Intelligence Agency is a lawsuit filed in August 2022 by lawyers Margaret Kunstler and Deborah Hrbek, and journalists Charles Glass and John Goetz against the Central Intelligence Agency, former CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Undercover Global S.L. (UC Global), and UC Global's owner David Morales. The lawsuit alleges that UC Global, which was providing security for the Ecuadorian embassy in London, had recorded the complainants conversations with Julian Assange and copied their phones and computers. It alleges that UC Global provided the information it copied to the CIA, which was headed by Pompeo at the time. The CIA is prohibited from targeting U.S. citizens. In an internal email, Morales told workers that UC Global was profiling Assange's visitors and aides because he had been "informed of suspicions that [Assange] is working for the Russian intelligence services".[14] [15] [16] [17]

Personal life

Margaret Ratner Kunstler was married to William Kunstler, who died in 1995. The two had two daughters Sarah Kunstler and Emily Kunstler, and several grandchildren.[18]

Margaret was previously married to Michael Ratner.[19]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: New York Civil Rights Attorney :: Margaret Ratner Kunstler :: Williamsburg, New York Entertainment Law Attorney . 2023-04-24 . www.hrbeklaw.com . 2023-03-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230315174805/https://www.hrbeklaw.com/margaret-ratner-kunstler.html . live .
  2. News: Kocieniewski . David . January 30, 2019 . The Civil Rights Warrior Who May Have Linked Roger Stone to WikiLeaks . Bloomberg News . November 8, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190921020520/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-30/the-civil-rights-warrior-who-may-have-linked-stone-to-wikileaks . September 21, 2019.
  3. News: Hoffman . Jan . 1996-12-15 . A Bitter Fight Rages Over Files and a Famous Name . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-04-24 . 0362-4331 . 2019-10-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191016181814/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/15/nyregion/a-bitter-fight-rages-over-files-and-a-famous-name.html . live .
  4. Web site: Trump Jr. . Donald . September 7, 2017 . Senate Judiciary Committee testimony . April 24, 2023 . April 23, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190423162829/https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4464062/Donald-Trump-Jr-Senate-Judiciary-Committee.pdf . live .
  5. Web site: 2018-11-14 . Text messages show Roger Stone and friend discussing WikiLeaks plans . 2023-10-21 . NBC News . en.
  6. News: November 8, 2019 . Steve Bannon says Roger Stone was Trump campaign link to WikiLeaks . . November 8, 2019 . Associated Press . November 9, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191109031410/https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/11/08/breaking-news/steve-bannon-says-roger-stone-was-trump-campaign-link-to-wikileaks/ . live .
  7. Web site: Friedman . Dan . Roger Stone offered to assist his alleged WikiLeaks source with legal expenses . 2023-04-24 . Mother Jones . en-US . 2022-11-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221129222201/http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/09/roger-stone-offered-to-assist-his-alleged-wikileaks-source-randy-credico-with-legal-expenses/ . live .
  8. Web site: Friedman . Dan . Roger Stone keeps changing his story about WikiLeaks . 2023-04-24 . Mother Jones . en-US . 2023-04-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230416222839/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/roger-stone-keeps-changing-his-story-about-wikileaks/ . live .
  9. Web site: Friedman . Dan . Text messages show Roger Stone was working to get a pardon for Julian Assange . 2023-04-24 . Mother Jones . en-US.
  10. Web site: Friedman . Dan . Roger Stone wants a pardon. He previously tried to get one for Assange. . 2023-04-24 . Mother Jones . en-US.
  11. Web site: WikiLeaks, dog threats and a fake death notice: Roger Stone's odd friendship with Randy Credico . 2023-04-24 . POLITICO . 8 November 2019 . en . 2019-11-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191113140739/https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/08/roger-stones-trial-randy-credico-068072 . live .
  12. Web site: Friedman . Dan . Sen. Dianne Feinstein presses insiders on Trump-Russia dealings . 2023-04-24 . Mother Jones . en-US . 2022-12-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221206044650/http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/11/feinstein-presses-insiders-on-trump-russia-dealings/ . live .
  13. Web site: Letter from Senator Feinstein to Kunstler, November 15, 2017 . April 24, 2023 . September 20, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220920064026/https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/e/1/e110da03-8b7e-4393-822e-8bd8340b234a/1F35E9444D1762AED25E63CF8A34A63D.kunstler-letter.pdf . live .
  14. News: Singh . Kanishka . 2022-08-15 . CIA sued over alleged spying on lawyers, journalists who met Assange . en . Reuters . 2022-11-27 . 2022-08-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220817021234/https://www.reuters.com/world/cia-sued-over-alleged-spying-lawyers-journalists-who-met-assange-2022-08-15/ . live .
  15. Web site: Julian Assange: US lawyers sue CIA for allegedly spying on WikiLeaks founder . 2022-11-27 . uk.news.yahoo.com . 16 August 2022 . en-GB . 2022-11-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221127144958/https://uk.news.yahoo.com/julian-assange-us-lawyers-sue-115023915.html . live .
  16. Web site: Agence France-Presse . 2022-08-16 . Julian Assange lawyers sue CIA over alleged spying . 2022-11-27 . the Guardian . en . 2022-11-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221127144958/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/aug/16/julian-assange-lawyers-sue-cia-over-alleged-spying . live .
  17. Web site: Irujo . José María . 2019-11-08 . The US trail of the man whose security firm spied on Julian Assange . 2022-11-28 . EL PAÍS English Edition . en-us . 2022-11-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221127233737/https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2019/11/08/inenglish/1573211318_746915.html . live .
  18. News: Stout . David . 1995-09-05 . William Kunstler, 76, Dies; Lawyer for Social Outcasts . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-04-24 . 0362-4331.
  19. News: Roberts . Sam . 2016-05-11 . Michael Ratner, Lawyer Who Won Rights for Guantánamo Prisoners, Dies at 72 . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-04-24 . 0362-4331.

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