Dissension in Assange Espionage Charges as Two DOJ Prosecutors Disagreed

Many mainstream media agencies seem to be changing their tune about Assange. At least, with respect to the new charges that want to criminalize the same practices they themselves or their colleagues use. CNN and the Washington Post have come out saying two Department of Justice prosecutors even disagreed with the charges against Assange.

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Going back to the Obama administration, the DOJ debated and then decided to not charge Assange for the very reason that the media is bringing up. Charging Assange under the Espionage act for practices that journalists engage in was a" bad idea". Yet, they still left the case open to charge him on other grounds.

The Trump administration didn't seem to care for the wisdom of not going after journalistic practices of disclosing secrets of the state. They want to go after leakers hard, and the publishers like Assange are part of that target to set an example.

Carrie DeCell, an attorney with the Knight First Amendment Institute tweeted about the absurdity of the charges that puts a target on all journlists:

*"The government argues that Assange violated the Espionage Act by soliciting, obtaining, and then publishing classified information. That’s exactly what good national security and investigative journalists do every day.”

*"For the most part, the charges against him broadly address the solicitation, receipt, and publication of classified information. These charges could be brought against national security and investigative journalists simply for doing their jobs, and doing them well.”

The New Yorker called the new charges as "attacking the media, it is attacking the public" which is a welcome criticism that helps Assange. But they still try to denigrate him as a lesser journalists, sicne anyone can call themselves a journalist, which they are thankful is the case. It's up to people to decide "which journalists are worth reading or watching".

Prosecutors James Trump and Daniel Grooms shared their concern for the charges against Assange going against principles in the First Amendment. They both argued against the Espionage Act charges. But by the time charges were files, James Trump was out of the loop and his opinion didn't matter. As for Grooms, he left the Justice Department last month so his dissenting voice was ignored as well.

Apparently, it's not often that prosecutors argue about the merits of charges. But in this case, major questions about the constitution arose. It's striking that prosecutors look at these viability of these charges for years under the Obama administration, and finally concluded against it. Assange was doing what journalists do.

The facts didn't change from then to now. Only the political zeal and fervor for leakers did. The new people in the prosecutors office were out for blood, and they would charge Assange with anything they could, no matter how dangerous it was to do so. They don't care about freedom, certainly not press freedom and freedom of speech.

Apparently these charges were planned months ago, and the initial charge was only a "placeholder" for the later ones. The good news about the attempt to extradite Assange from the UK on these charges, is that it seems unlikely, at least according to Jacques Semmelman, a New York lawyer who specializes in extradition cases.

"It is a classic political offense. I have a difficult time seeing a British court departing so significantly from legal tradition and saying in this case they will make an exception. The political offense exception as it has existed for probably 150 years has consistently maintained that for espionage charges, they are not extraditable. That’s just a classic principle of international extradition law."

That's the first bit of good news I've heard about the threat of extradition. But, anything could happen. The Brits could go against tradition and just hand him over anyways. The US government will keep trying to blue the lines between a leaker and publisher so they can punish Assange. They want to expand the reach of "laws" that keep their dirt secreted away in the darkness.

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Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.

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Posted from KURE