The Case Against Julian Assange Is Also a Case Against the Press

According to the Justice Department, Baraitser noted, "The prosecution case is expressly brought on the basis that Mr. Assange disclosed materials that no responsible journalist or publisher would have disclosed." But the Espionage Act charges against Assange require no such "Basis," and any journalist who obtains or publishes classified information related to national security could face the same charges.

The 18-count Assange indictment, which the Justice Department unveiled in May 2019, is based on his disclosure of Defense Department files and State Department cables that indisputably touched upon matters of legitimate public interest, including the treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainees, secret missile attacks in Yemen and potential war crimes in Iraq.

Baraitser, following the Justice Department's lead, wants to distinguish between "Responsible" journalism like that and the less careful and professional kind practiced by Assange.

Counts nine through 17 of the Assange indictment involve "Disclosure of national defense information," a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

So is the conduct described in count one, which alleges that Assange conspired to receive national defense information, and counts two through eight, which allege that he obtained it.

So even leaving aside the charge that Assange violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by helping his source, former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, crack a password, Assange faces up to 170 years in prison for doing things that respectable news organizations routinely do.

Responding to Baraitser's decision, Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, warned that "The U.S. indictment of Assange will continue to cast a dark shadow over investigative journalism." In particular, he said, the nine counts focused on "Pure publication" represent "An unprecedented attack on press freedom, one calculated to deter journalists and publishers from exercising rights that the First Amendment should be understood to protect."

https://townhall.com/columnists/jacobsullum/2021/01/06/the-case-against-julian-assange-is-also-a-case-against-the-press-n2582643