I get it, people hate Assange. Criticize him all you want!
But please also acknowledge every single major press freedom group in the US: the criminal case against him is INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS for reporters—even if you don’t think Assange is a journalist! freedom.press/news/press-fre…
Here’s Bruce Brown—@rcfp exec. director—writing that the Assange case is "the first time in American history that the US gov't has sought to prosecute the act of publishing state secrets, something that national security reporters do with some regularity" cjr.org/opinion/assang…
Here’s @cdeloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders, encouraging a pardon of Assange for the sake of press freedom. @rebecca_vincent, also with @RSF_inter, has been pleading with journalists to pay attention to the case for months.
You can also read the court testimony of @JameelJaffer—executive director at @knightcolumbia and former deputy legal director at @ACLU—about how the rights of every single national security reporter could be eviscerated if the Assange case continues. justsecurity.org/72629/its-assa…
Here’s my own testimony in the Assange case, as executive director of @FreedomofPress: “The US government is saying that by merely possessing these documents Assange is committing a crime. If Assange is committing a crime, then so is any other journalist” computerweekly.com/news/252488835…
All of the important investigative reporting that everyone cheered during the Trump era will potentially be prosecutable using the Assange precedent. It is ESPECIALLY important to speak up about this case right now, because…. freedom.press/news/trump-shu…
The incoming Biden admin is making important decisions about the DOJ as we speak, and it will be up to them whether the Assange case continues. If they don’t feel the pressure, they will likely continue down the same path. And that would do incalculable damage to press freedom.
Do you want The Next Trump to have the power to prosecute reporters? If the answer is no, use your voice to denounce the DOJ’s Assange case. Do it even if you hate him. In fact, do it *especially* if you hate him. It may be the only hope that the incoming Biden admin will listen.
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I wrote for @genmag at @medium: The Trump whistleblower case shows why leaks are vital for democracy.
The whistleblower himself didn't leak classified info, but others did—pushing the story further every day until it became the biggest in the country. gen.medium.com/trumps-ukraine…
@GENmag@Medium Classified leaks published by news orgs forced Dems to move on impeachment, forced Trump to release the call, forced the DNI to submit to Congress, and forced the complaint itself to be declassified.
Without leaks, it's possible this story would have been buried and forgotten.
@GENmag@Medium The brave person or people who leaked the contents of the whistleblower complaint before it was declassified broke the same law @Snowden did. The DOJ could prosecute them.
This is CRAZY. Journalists were inadvertently given a list of police misconduct reports via a public records request. The California AG is now saying the journalists are breaking the law by merely *possessing* the documents and threatened legal action. eastbaytimes.com/2019/02/26/cal…
When I first read the article, I thought it must have been overstating things. But it's not -- read the full, threatening letter the California AG's office sent the journalists: scribd.com/document/40050…
In a statement to @FreedomofPress today, California AG @XavierBecerra's office doubled down on their contention that the reporters here are breaking the law by possessing documents about police criminal convictions. We'll have a story up about it in the morning.