DOJ accuses Assange of violating Espionage Act

[truth_seeker]

DOJ accuses Assange of violating Espionage Act

By NATASHA BERTRAND 05/23/2019 04:02 PM EDT Updated 05/23/2019 06:14 PM EDT


The Justice Department has hit WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with Espionage Act charges, escalating a legal fight against the high-profile activist and alarming press freedom activists.
DOJ had previously only indicted Assange on a single count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. Thursday’s revelation of the additional 18 charges, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, means Assange could face significantly more prison time if found guilty.

The alleged Espionage Act violations relate to Assange’s complicity with Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Army soldier who was convicted in July 2013 of violating the Espionage Act after she shuttled troves of classified government information to WikiLeaks. Officials said Assange solicited the information from and then brazenly published details that put the government's human sources at risk, disregarding explicit warnings from the government.

Traditionally, the Espionage Act has been used against government officials, like Manning, who reveal such classified information, rather than the journalists or foreign nationals who publish the information.
As a result, the use of the Espionage Act against Assange set off alarm bells among press freedom activists on Thursday. While WikiLeaks isn’t a conventional news organization, press advocates have long feared that charging Assange for the publication of government secrets could open the door to prosecuting reporters for doing the same.

Traditionally, the Espionage Act has been used against government officials, like Manning, who reveal such classified information, rather than the journalists or foreign nationals who publish the information.
As a result, the use of the Espionage Act against Assange set off alarm bells among press freedom activists on Thursday. While WikiLeaks isn’t a conventional news organization, press advocates have long feared that charging Assange for the publication of government secrets could open the door to prosecuting reporters for doing the same.

Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who also touched off a debate about the media's role in publishing secret files when he leaked classified information to reporters in 2013, proclaimed: “the Department of Justice just declared war – not on Wikileaks, but on journalism itself.”
John Demers, head of DOJ’s national security division, pushed back at that argument on Thursday, insisting Assange is “not a journalist,” and alleging that the WikiLeaks founder “purposely published names he knew to be confidential human sources in warzones.”

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https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/23/doj-accuses-assange-of-violating-espionage-act-1342653

[truth_seeker]

The "press" should not have special provisions, to disclose information harmful to our country.

Manning should have been executed. The Rosenbergs WERE executed.

Assaunge is just as guilty as Manning; he encouraged HIM to get the information.

Finally Snowden is hiding, safe in Russia.

BTW unrelated but interesting: Ike had a draft of his 1961 speech warning of the "Military, industrial, congressional complex"

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Military-industrial_complex