WSJ Obtains Wikileaks Financial Data
Wau Holland Foundation says it has collected about €1 million ($1.3 million) in donations in 2010, the year in which WikiLeaks exploded into public prominence thanks to its release of thousands of classified U.S. documents. WikiLeaks said in August that it had raised about €765,000 until that point in the year. The data from the foundation, which is a major but not the sole conduit of funding for the website, suggest donations to WikiLeaks have tampered off some since the organization landed in the headlines.
The Wau Holland Foundation provides key back-office services for WikiLeaks’ operations by collecting donations and paying its bills. Last summer, WikiLeaks said it operated on about €150,000 a year. Now, however, the foundation says it has paid about €380,000 in WikiLeaks expenses, with some invoices for the year still unprocessed. Some of that total is for hardware, Internet access and travel, Wau Holland spokesman Hendrik Fulda said. But a big factor in the leap is a recent decision to begin paying salaries to staff.
The primary beneficiary of that decision—which has been hotly debated within WikiLeaks—is Mr. Assange, the controversial founder and public face of WikiLeaks who is currently under house arrest in the U.K., where he faces possible extradition to Sweden to face allegations of sexual misconduct.
And from CBS:
WikiLeaks had also allegedly promised to contribute half of the estimated $100,000 it will cost for the legal defense of Bradley Manning. Recently, however, a WikiLeaks spokesman said it would only donate around $20,000.
As of the writing of this report, it had still not contributed the funds. The Wau Holland Foundation is awaiting advice from its lawyers on whether the donation would be legal under German law, a spokesman told the Journal.
via boingboing
