Trump DOJ’s theory against Assange invokes the same source-protection methods that top news publishers use — signal, anonymous contact, dropboxes — as evidence of a criminal “conspiracy”..
citing a “folder on a cloud drop box of WikiLeaks“
theintercept.com/2019/04/11/the…
That’s not the legal question.
If the gov can win a conviction against *activities* in journalism, the precedent can apply to the press.
The legal issue isn’t about Assange at all— though the Trump DOJ may want you to think it is.
Analyzing the potential reach of a precedent always requires looking beyond the given case, and at how the rule or law will apply in the future.
We know the Trump DOJ came to the opposite conclusion in 2018
So we are assessing the first ever indictment of a publisher by Trump DOJ/AG Sessions
This is not a charge of hacking or stealing.
It’s a charge about working with a source who stole.