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The Investigation

Bonus: "Bunch of Clowns"

The Investigation

ABC News

News, Politics

3.6739 Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2019

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this special episode, "The Investigation" takes listeners inside the Ecuadorian Embassy and the tiny room that Julian Assange called home for the past seven years. Senior Executive Producer Chris Vlasto along with investigative reporters Matt Mosk and James Meek speak with documentary filmmaker Sean Langan, who has spent over 50 hours visiting with Assange in what he called "a gilded cage...with very old fashioned, 1950’s, Spanish Mexican furniture." Langan tells "The Investigation" about his last meeting with Assange just 20 days ago: "he looked me in the eye and I could sense…he had this real fear now…of spending the rest of his life in a Supermax federal prison in America," and what Assange really thinks about Roger Stone and Donald Trump,Jr.: "he said, 'those bunch of clowns…couldn't conspire and organize this kind of thing.'"

Follow Kyra on Twitter @kyraphillips

Follow Chris on Twitter @vlasto

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmosk

Follow John on Twitter @santucci


Support this podcast with a review on Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2UJIsJs

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to a special bonus episode of The Investigation.

0:09.0

I'm Chris Vlasto, senior executive producer at ABC News.

0:12.4

I'm joined by Matt Mosque, senior investigative reporter, and a special guest today is James Meek.

0:18.0

He's been a member of our investigative team, but has also has been tracking

0:21.7

and covering the Julian Assange story since it broke in 2006. Today, we're also joined by a special

0:29.7

guest, Sean Langen, who has worked with James over these past few years. And at the center of it all,

0:36.2

Julian Assange, there are very few people

0:38.4

that know him but the man we're talking to today has spent at least 50 hours over the

0:43.7

last year inside that Ecuadorian embassy as recently as last month and we're going to get an

0:50.3

insider's look inside that Ecuadorian embassy Sean Langan is a well-known war documentary

0:56.5

filmmaker who was taken hostage by the Taliban in 2008. He is also an ABC news contributor,

1:03.6

and he joins us by phone overseas. So listen, you recently have spent some time, you spent a lot of

1:10.6

time, I think, with Julian Assange.

1:12.3

Tell us about the last visit you were with him.

1:14.7

So, in fact, it was two weeks ago on a Friday.

1:19.1

We have these regular social visits, the embassy call it, because he's not allowed to have media or anyone.

1:25.5

He's not allowed to give interviews.

1:26.7

So every other Friday I've been going along and we bring lunch,

1:31.8

and we sit in this room where they lock the door. And the idea is to sort of help pass the time.

1:38.6

And is it in his room? I mean, what's his room like? Is it just like a hotel room or can he move around?

1:44.9

Paint the picture for us.

1:46.6

Yes. Well, after five hours, I found it very claustrophobic and wanted to get out.

...

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