Title: US Govt: Arresting WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Now a Top “Priority” (Another Trump Flip-Flop) Source:
Free Thought Project URL Source:http://thefreethoughtproject.com/fe ... n-assange/#0roG5lAAXEzogvlB.99 Published:Apr 21, 2017 Author:The Free Thought Project Post Date:2017-04-22 20:13:50 by Deckard Keywords:None Views:5398 Comments:21
Officials reportedly claim the Department of Justice is ready to file arrest charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Press advocates warn that if the US goes after the pro-transparency publisher, they could go after other news outlets as well.
On Thursday, CNN and the Washington Post cited unnamed US officials as having information that the US has prepared charges to make arrests related to WikiLeaks publishing tens of thousands of military documents leaked by Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
CNN specifically reported WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been living in a small room in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, was the subject of forthcoming arrest charges.
The Post reported multiple members of the WikiLeaks group were being targeted as prosecutors draft a memo laying out the charges. Possible charges include “conspiracy, theft of government property or violating the Espionage Act.” However, officials told the Post that the memo is still incomplete, and would need authorization from the highest levels of the Justice Department.
In recent months, the US hoped a new government in Ecuador would expel Assange from the embassy so he could be arrested. However, Ecuadorian President-elect Lenin Moreno, the apparent victor in the country’s recent election, has told Assange he can stay at the embassy under certain conditions.
Assange fears that leaving the embassy could his result in arrest by UK police and being extradited over an arrest warrant on rape allegations filed against him in Sweden.
“We’ve had no communication with the Department of Justice and they have not indicated to me that they have brought any charges against Mr. Assange,” Pollack said, according to CNN. “There’s no reason why WikiLeaks should be treated differently from any other publisher.”
In August last year, Pollack wrote to then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch demanding the DOJ drop its investigation and declare no pending criminal charges against Assange, according to WikiLeaks. The letter cited a January 2015 policy change within the DOJ, as well as the July 2016 public announcement by FBI Director James Comey that a criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton over the handling of classified information had concluded and no prosecution was recommended.
The new DOJ policy adopted in January 2015 barred the DOJ from seeking a grand jury indictment of a news media member, or filing information against such a person when the suspected crime was committed “in the course of, or arising out of, newsgathering activities” unless notice had been first provided to the Director of the Office of Public Affairs along with “the express authorization of the Attorney General.”
Pollack claimed in his letter that WikiLeaks published the leaks from 2010, because it believed they had news value. Proof of the claim, he said, was apparent in third-party media coverage of the revelations. Pollack denied any unlawful intent such as aiding enemies of the US.
In a recent Op-Ed published by the Washington Post, Assange said that the motive of WikiLeaks is “identical to that claimed by the New York Times and The Post — to publish newsworthy content.”
“Consistent with the U.S. Constitution, we publish material that we can confirm to be true irrespective of whether sources came by that truth legally or have the right to release it to the media. And we strive to mitigate legitimate concerns, for example by using redaction to protect the identities of at-risk intelligence agents,” Assange wrote.
Several First Amendment rights groups and news outlets have denounced the potential charges, saying that if they can go after WikiLeaks, they could go after journalists from other news organizations.
On Thursday, the WikiLeaks Twitter account tweeted that top French presidential candidates “all vowed to give Assange and/or Snowden citizenship or asylum.”
WikiLeaks also posted a link where donations can be made to the “Julian Assange Defense Fund,” a fund that was set up to cover the legal fees for Assange and other WikiLeaks staff.
Possible charges include “conspiracy, theft of government property or violating the Espionage Act.
The key problem is that Assange neither is an American citizen nor he resided in America.
When American journalist residing in USA reveals some secrets of Iranian government, he cannot be prosecuted for treason by Iran.
Of course it is possible that such prosecution will proceed, but it will be a fundamental public relations disaster. The whole world will see American legal system as absurd and malevolent.
Iran can charge Americans for espionage but they have to catch them or get someone to capture them and bring them to Iran to stand trial.
I think the "thing" with Julian is BS but that is just me and I do not know all the facts. All governments are mad that they can not operate in secret any more which in the totality is a good thing. All governments have been doing this since the beginning and socialist and communist countries have been the worst of the lot.
Really what Julian has done is prove that MSM is in bed with governments and not doing their job. The more communist the country the more they control the MSM. Which is what one would expect. The freer the nation the freer the press to do its job but like America we have found that once socialist take over the press its just a propaganda machine for the progressive movement of centralized planning and retribution.
progressives = socialist = communist = fascist = anti liberal = anti freedom
