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posted by martyb on Friday May 24 2019, @11:34AM   Printer-friendly
from the One-man-takes-on-US-Government;-who-will-prevail? dept.

Assange Indicted Under Espionage Act, Raising First Amendment Issues

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks leader, has been indicted on 17 new counts of violating the Espionage Act for his role in publishing classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010, the Justice Department announced on Thursday — a novel case that raises profound First Amendment issues.

The new charges were part of a superseding indictment obtained by the Trump administration that significantly expanded the legal case against Mr. Assange, who is already fighting extradition proceedings in London based on an earlier hacking-related count brought by federal prosecutors in Northern Virginia.

[...] On its face, the Espionage Act could also be used to prosecute reporters who publish government secrets. But many legal scholars believe that prosecuting people for acts related to receiving and publishing information would violate the First Amendment.

That notion has never been tested in court, however, because until now the government has never brought such charges. The closest it came was indicting two lobbyists for a pro-Israel group in 2005 who received classified information about American policy toward Iran and passed it on. But that case fell apart after several skeptical pretrial rulings by a judge, and the charges were dropped.

Though he is not a conventional journalist, much of what Mr. Assange does at WikiLeaks is difficult to distinguish in a legally meaningful way from what traditional news organizations like The New York Times do: seek and publish information that officials want to be secret, including classified national security matters, and take steps to protect the confidentiality of sources.

Also at BBC, CNBC, USA Today, and Reuters

Previously: Inadvertent Court Filing Suggests that the U.S. DoJ is Preparing to Indict Julian Assange
U.S. Ramping Up Probe Against Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Says
Wikileaks Co-Founder Julian Assange Arrested at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
Julian Assange Sentenced to 50 Weeks in Prison for Bail Breach
Swedish Prosecutor to Reopen Julian Assange Investigation


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @12:51PM (12 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @12:51PM (#847042)

    Julian Assange is going to get the Saddam Hussein treatment.

    The justification has already been sold to the american public as an enemy.

    America is great again, following by the playbook again!

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 24 2019, @01:43PM (11 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 24 2019, @01:43PM (#847054) Journal

    Assange won't be hanged, or executed by any other means. He MIGHT suicide. Seriously, he is a candidate for suicide. He's been more-or-less imprisoned already for - what? 7 years? If he's successfully extradited, and dragged to the US, they're going to pile as many charges as possible on him. He'll be facing about ten thousand years in prison, plus ten or more life sentences, all to be served consecutively. Who do we know of who has caved under such bullshit before? One name, at least, should come readily to mind for all nerds/geeks/techs.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @02:04PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @02:04PM (#847064)

      Compared to Saddam he is a small input bound to return a small output. But the procedure is the same. He is going to be made an example of, and judiciary hates everything that questions system the most - which is what Julian Assange is. Being a non-citizen, his rights are going to be the same as that of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner-for-life, and judges are going to invent new definitions to hang him, ignoring precedences like anything.

      Any pretense of rule of law will be laid bare and nobody will care because it is too depressing to acknowledge. Next morning will still have a sunrise, and there will be bitter fights over rape and rape culture and trans-rights to be fought over. And the correlation between color and culture, and Jesus and Russia.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @03:11PM (9 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @03:11PM (#847098)

      What if he has evidence that will hang Trump?

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 24 2019, @03:42PM (8 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 24 2019, @03:42PM (#847113) Journal

        *rolleyes*

        There's no such thing. We all know what Trump is. But, there is no law against being a douche, or a horse's ass, or an unscrupulous businessman, or any of the other things that Trump is. That Trump Derangement Syndrome wants to dream that Trump is something worse, or something greater, or whatever, but, it just ain't so. He is just some rich man's kid, who learned how to lie and cheat, and bend the business world to his will, in the process growing crazy-rich. And, most of America, most of the world, admires him and his peers. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and that little wanker at Facefook. Some of them were more honest, some of them less honest, but each of them stayed within the law, and got filthy rich. Which makes the all heroes to the typical American.

        • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @03:52PM (7 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @03:52PM (#847123)

          Did you read the Mueller Report or are you waiting for the graphic novel version?

          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 24 2019, @04:07PM (4 children)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 24 2019, @04:07PM (#847138) Journal

            What, exactly, in the Mueller report, are you referring to? I actually read the first few pages. I skimmed much of the rest. I found no "smoking gun".

            Even I can be put off by excessive verbiage that ultimately says nothing.

            • (Score: 4, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Friday May 24 2019, @06:07PM (3 children)

              by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday May 24 2019, @06:07PM (#847243) Journal

              What, exactly, in the Mueller report, are you referring to?

              Ten documented cases of Obstruction of Justice. But you know this already...

              • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 24 2019, @06:21PM (2 children)

                by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 24 2019, @06:21PM (#847265) Journal

                Yeah, whatever. You can call it obstruction of justice - I'll call it obstruction of a bunch of busybodies.

                • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @08:51PM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @08:51PM (#847351)

                  Then your argument is a complete load of nonsense.

                  Obstruction is a legal term with a legal definition.

                  What YOU have is an opinion, and an uninformed one at that. And they are worthless.

                  But don't worry. You are protected by your 'I can never be wrong' bubble so its all good.

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @10:38PM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @10:38PM (#847389)

                  lol getting reaaaal dumb these days runaway

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @05:43PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @05:43PM (#847210)

            Is the "Mueller Report" the TDS Bible now? The braying for the "unredacted report" sounds mighty like the Birthers back in the day chattering about the "long form birth certificate".
            She lost, he won. Be an adult and quit your whining.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @07:34PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @07:34PM (#847305)

              She hasn't lost. He'll be calmer after she gelds him.