Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., introduced a resolution asserting that the First Amendment protects “regular journalistic activities” and calling on the U.S. government to drop its legal action against Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, who is suspected of disclosing secret U.S. military documents.
Reps. James McGovern, D-Mass.; Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla.; Eric Bulsison, R-Mo.; Jeff Duncan, R-S.C.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; and Clay Higgins, D-La. co-sponsored the bipartisan resolution that was introduced on Wednesday.
“Whereas regular journalistic activities, including the obtainment and publication of information, are protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,” the text of the resolution states.
In addition to one charge alleging a conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, Assange is being charged on 17 counts for allegedly receiving, possessing, and disseminating classified information to the public in violation of the Espionage Act. The Trump administration filed the charges in relation to the 2010 release of U.S. cables. Chelsea Manning, an Army intelligence analyst, disclosed to Wikileaks information about war crimes carried out by the US government in Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba, Guantánamo Bay, and detention camps. The documents also revealed instances of torture and rendition carried out by the CIA.
Thirteen years ago, Wikileaks released the “Collateral Murder” video, which showed American soldiers shooting civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists.
According to the resolution, Assange, an Australian national, was charged by the US government with aiding and abetting Manning in breaking into Defense Department computers without authorization, despite the fact that Manning “already had access to the mentioned computer, that the purported breaching of the Defense Department computers was impossible, and that there was no proof Mr. Assange had any contact with” Manning.
“Whereas, in 2010, WikiLeaks, a media organization established by Julian Assange, published a cache of hundreds of thousands of pieces of information, including Guantánamo Bay detainee assessment briefs, State Department cables, rules of engagement files, and other United States military reports,” the resolution stated. “Whereas the disclosure of this information promoted public transparency through the exposure of the hiring of child prostitutes by Defense Department contractors, friendly fire incidents, human rights abuses, civilian killings, and United States use of psychological warfare.”
Since his removal from the Ecuadorian Embassy on April 11, 2019, due to his violation of bail conditions, Assange has been detained at London’s highly secure Belmarsh Prison. Since 2012, he had applied for asylum at the embassy to avoid being deported to Sweden on charges that he had sexually assaulted two women, as Sweden had refused to guarantee that he would not be extradited to the United States. Eventually, the investigations into the claims of sexual assault were withdrawn.
After exhausting all legal appeals, Assange would be extradited to the United States, where he would stand trial in Alexandria, Virginia, and face a maximum sentence of 175 years in an American maximum-security prison.
The resolution follows several other bipartisan attempts this year by American and Australian lawmakers in Assange’s home country, urging the United States to withdraw the charges and cease its extradition requests.
More than a dozen US lawmakers signed a letter to President Biden last month, spearheaded by McGovern and Massie, pleading with him to drop the charges against Assange. Legislators from Australia traveled to Washington, D.C. in September in order to meet with American officials and promote Assange’s freedom. Additionally, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., spearheaded a letter to the Justice Department, signed by a few House members, requesting that it drop the charges on the fourth anniversary of Assange’s arrest in April.
A resolution that supported the free press and demanded the dismissal of Assange’s charges was presented in 2020 by Massie and Democratic former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
Until Assange, no publisher had faced charges under the Espionage Act. Many proponents of press freedom view this as a dangerous precedent that could criminalize journalism. There is no proof that anyone was put in danger as a result of WikiLeaks publishing classified material, despite the claims of American prosecutors and Assange’s detractors.
“Whereas the successful prosecution of Mr. Assange under the Espionage Act would set a precedent allowing the United States to prosecute and imprison journalists for First Amendment protected activities, including the obtainment and publication of information, something that occurs on a regular basis,” the resolution said on Wednesday. “Whereas First Amendment freedom of the press is essential to promote public transparency and is a crucial safeguard for our Republic.”
“Whereas numerous human rights, press freedom, and privacy rights advocates and organizations have disclosed their sincere and steadfast support for Mr. Assange,” the resolution stated.
In addition, the editors and publishers of The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, and El País—all American and European publications that collaborated with Assange on the publication of excerpts from over 250,000 documents he acquired in the Cablegate leak—wrote an open letter last year urging the United States to drop its legal action against Assange.
Because it would have required indicting journalists from major news outlets who also published the same materials, the Obama administration decided not to bring charges against Assange in 2013 regarding WikiLeaks’ 2010 publication of the classified cables.
Additionally, WikiLeaks released internal correspondence from the Democratic National Committee to Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016, which exposed the DNC’s efforts to support Clinton in the Democratic primary that year.
Gosar’s motion states that “regular journalistic activities, including the obtainment and publication of information, are protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States,” the belief that “First Amendment freedom of the press promotes public transparency and is crucial for the American Republic,” and that the “Federal Government ought to drop all charges against and attempts to extradite Julian Assange” and to have the “Federal Government allow Julian Assange to return home to his native Australia if he so desires.”
