GOP Rep. Thomas Massie and Democrat Jim McGovern Ask Biden To Pardon Julian Assange

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and House Rules Committee ranking member Jim McGovern (D-MA) wrote to President Joe Biden this month to request that he pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

In their letter, which was posted by WikiLeaks on Wednesday, Massie and McGovern opened, “We write, first, to express our appreciation for your administration’s decision last spring to facilitate a resolution of the criminal case against publisher Julian Assange and to withdraw the related extradition request that had been pending in the United Kingdom.”

They continued:

This brought an end to Mr. Assange’s protracted detention and allowed him to reunite with his family and return to his home country of Australia. That said, we are deeply concerned that the agreement that ended the case required Mr. Assange to plead guilty to felony charges under section 793 of the Espionage Act. As you know, the decision to prosecute Mr. Assange under the Espionage Act set off alarms among Members of Congress and advocates for freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Put simply, there is a long-standing and well-grounded concern that section 793, which criminalizes the obtaining, retaining, or disclosing of sensitive information, could be used against journalists and news organizations engaged in their normal activities, particularly those who cover national security topics. This risk reportedly informed the Obama administration’s decision not to prosecute Mr. Assange.

The terms of Mr. Assange’s plea agreement have now set a precedent that greatly deepens our concern. A texics of prosecutions under the Espionage Act makes clear that Mr. Assange’s case is the first time the Act has been deployed against a publisher. We share the view of Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, who reacted to news of the plea agreement by saying, “While we welcome the end of his detention, the U.S.’s pursuit of Assange has set a harmful legal precedent by opening the way for journalists to be tried under the Espionage Act if they receive classified material from whistleblowers. This should never have been the case.”

The members of Congress concluded, “We therefore urge you to consider issuing a pardon for Mr. Assange. A pardon would remove the precedent set by the plea and send a clear message that the U.S. government under your leadership will not target or investigate journalists and media outlets simply for doing their jobs. Thank you for considering this request.”

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/gop-rep-thomas-massie-and-democrat-jim-mcgovern-ask-biden-to-pardon-julian-assange/