Assange says the government has not addressed concerns raised by the leaks. Assange: Is Obama wearing pants?

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Friday questioned whether President Barack Obama is in control of the nation’s intelligence operation, saying based on the response to the leaks from Edward Snowden, it doesn’t look that way.

“There is a real question about who is wearing the pants,” Assange said on MSNBC’s “Now With Alex Wagner” when asked about reforms to the National Security Agency announced by Obama in response to revelations brought forward by Snowden.


Speaking via satellite presumably from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has been staying in asylum from an extradition order for more than year, Assange said the government has not addressed the concerns raised by Snowden.

“It has been six months now since the Edward Snowden revelations started to occur,” Assange said. “In that time, have we seen the commencement of a criminal investigation against [Director of National Intelligence James] Clapper for lying to Congress, or anyone in the National Security Agency for violating the law, the U.S. Constitution? No. Have we seen the firing of a single person associated with those breaches of the rights of American citizens and arguably others as well? The answer is no.”

Assange said the lack of response raises questions about who is in control.

“So who really calls the shots in the executive? Is it Barack Obama? Is it Clapper? Is it [NSA Director Gen. Keith] Alexander? Is it the intelligence complex as a whole?” Assange said. “We know when the government takes something seriously. It starts a formal investigation, it fires people, it reduces its budgets. We haven’t seen that. So the question is, does the civilian leadership have effective control of the 16 agency intelligence group under Clapper, under the DNI?”

WikiLeaks has been supporting Snowden, who was granted asylum in Russia after fleeing the U.S.

Assange’s extradition order is due to an arrest warrant in Sweden over sexual assault allegations against him, though he claims his group is being persecuted for publishing leaked documents.