In what may be the first official retaliation against Julian Assange and Wikileaks since the organization started disseminating the hacked Podesta emails, this morning WikiLeaks announced it has "activated contingency" plans after Assange's internet link was intentionally cut off by a state party, WikiLeaks has said in a tweet.

Julian Assange's internet link has been intentionally severed by a state party. We have activated the appropriate contingency plans. — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 17, 2016

There was little actual detail, aside from a subsequent tweet in which WikiLeaks called on the public to support it by donating.

Previously on Sunday, there was concern about Assange's well-being when Wikileaks tweeted out what some suggested were the "dead man keys" that are allegedly the encryption codes for highly damaging secret documents to be uneviled in the case of Assange's death.

pre-commitment 1: John Kerry 4bb96075acadc3d80b5ac872874c3037a386f4f595fe99e687439aabd0219809 — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 16, 2016

pre-commitment 2: Ecuador

eae5c9b064ed649ba468f0800abf8b56ae5cfe355b93b1ce90a1b92a48a9ab72 — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 16, 2016

pre-commitment 3: UK FCO f33a6de5c627e3270ed3e02f62cd0c857467a780cf6123d2172d80d02a072f74 — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 16, 2016

These may have been the "contingency plans" referred to in the subsequent Wiki tweet.

Even former outspoken Trump advisor Roger Stone got involved tweeting that "John Kerry has threatened the Ecuadorian President with "grave consequences for Equador" if Assange is not silenced" adding that "Reports the Brits storm the Ecuadorian Embassy tonite while Kerry demands the UK revoke their diplomatic status so Assange can be seized."

John Kerry has threatened the Ecuadorian President with "grave consequences for Equador" if Assange is not silenced @StoneColdTruth — Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) October 17, 2016

Reports the Brits storm the Ecuadorian Embassy tonite while Kerry demands the UK revoke their diplomatic status so Assange can be seized — Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) October 17, 2016

So far this appears to be just wild speculation. The latest news in the Assange saga comes as WikiLeaks continues to release on a daily basis hacked emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta, which could ruin Clinton’s chances of becoming the next US president. Clinton’s campaign has suggested that WikiLeaks is working together with the Russian government to help defeat them in favor of Trump. The latest, 9th, batch comes amid revelations of Clinton’s cozy relationship with the mainstream media, and how they work closely to control the media landscape and set up stories that show her in a favorable light. Earlier this month, it emerged that Hillary Clinton reportedly wanted to “drone” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange when she was the US secretary of state.

So far there had been no intervention by outside entities to attempt to silence Julian Assange, so the latest intervention "by a state party", if confirmed would be a notable escalation in the status quo, and suggests that Wikileaks may have even more damaging revelations to come.