Harawira complains to Speaker about Key's Dotcom connection
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16 Sep, 2014 7:30pm Quick Read
David Fisher: Dotbomb's disaster
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Former US intelligence operative Edward Snowden and fellow fugitive WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange joined forces Monday to attack the New Zealand government, accusing it of mass surveillance on its people.
By: David Fisher
Senior writer, NZ Herald
david.fisher@nzherald.co.nz
Kim Dotcom had his time to shine and did not.
He has talked for almost three years of a conspiracy to have him extradited. For almost all that time he has claimed to have proof which would be produced in court at his extradition hearing on criminal copyright charges. He has said the conspiracy involved Prime Minister John Key and the Hollywood studios.
Two months ago, he declared the "absolute" proof would be delivered early at the "Moment of Truth" last night.
Instead, we witnessed a Mega fail.
It was a Dotbomb, a Kimplete Disaster.
Renegade former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden claimed his former employer spy agency National Security Agency has a facility in Auckland. Snowden, who is sheltering in Moscow from US attempts to extradite him on espionage charges, appeared by video link before a capacity crowd at the Kim Dotcom organised Moment of Truth event at Auckland Town Hall. Footage The Moment of Truth/YouTube
Dotcom's failure to come up with evidence is massively damaging to his cause.
It undermined the whole purpose of the Moment of Truth. Further, I believe he has damaged whatever relationship he has with the New Zealand public, and through that, the electoral prospects of the Internet Mana Party alliance and the politicians associated with it.
The damage also impacts on three of the biggest names in the world - those who came to give Kiwis information I believe they deserve to have.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, journalist Glenn Greenwald and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange shared a stage with Dotcom.
The weight of the information they produced is lighter in the wider public mind simply by sharing space with an absence of promised facts from Dotcom.
In time to come, I expect the details of spying will become fuzzy around the edges for the public.
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The memory they will take with them is that Dotcom promised much and delivered nothing.
The "email" which emerged, derided as a fake, may turn out to be the smoking gun Dotcom says with the production of more evidence. The tycoon has proved adept at pulling rabbits out of hats. He is adamant it is real and his political allies - Hone Harawira and Laila Harre - are willing to expend personal capital to push for a Parliamentary inquiry into it.
But as it stands, without more information, the "email" does not justify the faith Dotcom asked people to have in his pre-election revelation.
Prime Minister John Key has challenged Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald to front up with evidence of their claims of mass surveillance and NSA bases in New Zealand. Mr Key responded this morning to Snowden's claims that New Zealanders' metadata was included in the XKeyscore data harvesting programme used by the US and that there were two NSA bases in New Zealand. Mr Key said neither had provided any actual evidence of their claims and said it was simply rhetoric.
And it also begs the question, was that it? Where's the rest of the proof? The email can't be the only piece of evidence on which a lengthy campaign is based.
Dotcom's role in his own story is diminished because of last night, when he lost his ability to claim with any credibility the Prime Minister was involved in a conspiracy.
For all this, it must be recognised there are serious questions around the way New Zealand's authorities have dealt with Dotcom since he arrived.
The Kim Dotcom "big reveal" is out - and has almost immediately been dismissed as a fake. The "reveal" is an email which purports to show Prime Minister John Key involved in a plan to get the internet entrepreneur into New Zealand so he could be extradited to the United States. Mr Key said this afternoon he had absolutely no recollection or record of any such conversation. "I do not believe that to be correct. I have no recollection of the conversation alluded to in that email, there are no records there and the meetings I had were with other people around me. So in the end we'll try go and get to the bottom of it, but we don't have any record of it."
There was the ridiculous, over-bearing raid which saw our our elite anti-terrorist squad raid his house in search of a "Doomsday" device which would destroy evidence is laughable, and more so when the detail is examined. The spies brought in to eavesdrop on Dotcom, a copyright breach accused, is another example of madness. The failure by our best legal minds to give Dotcom - as he was legally entitled - his day in court prior to seizing his assets is also extraordinary.
The issues go all the way back to the spy who was ignored - the one who said Dotcom should not be let into the country. It runs through the Immigration minister who ignored two opportunities to heed good advice and block residency for the entrepreneur.
It begs questions of the police, the Crown Law Office, further questions of the GCSB, and a host of ministers who oversaw those departments. Ultimately, it might beg question of the Prime Minister. Ultimately, the buck stops with him.
The list of failure is extensive, and far-reaching. It is completely deserving of public inquiry - not for Dotcom's benefit, but for all those who expect their authorities and leaders to do a good job. It's an inquiry into competence, due process and responsibility.
Dotcom's Moment of Truth was an extraordinary event, but those "moments" were for others.
For all we were shown, it is impossible to take your eye from what was missing.
Labour leader David Cunliffe wants the last TV election debate extended so he and John Key can debate the spying accusations from Kim Dotcom. Cunliffe would investigate the entire process if he was Prime Minister on monday. He also wants to win all seven Maori seats, even if that means a loss for Mana.
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