Lawsuit seeks transparency on Assange prosecution

AP Photo/Pascal Bastien
His prosecution is over, but the implications for journalists are alarming.
After pleading guilty to charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, Assange is the first person to be convicted under the Espionage Act for speaking with a source, receiving classified documents, and publishing them. In other words, things that journalists at news outlets do every day.
This is why Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) led a coalition of virtually every major civil liberties and human rights organization in the country to denounce the unprecedented case as a clear and present danger to press freedom.
Here’s what numerous civil liberties and digital rights groups had to say about the implications of Assange’s charge and arrest.
The Trump administration's indictment of Assange may criminalize many common journalistic practices.
Chelsea Manning is standing up for press freedom by refusing to comply with the grand jury investigating WikiLeaks.
Any Espionage Act prosecution also threatens journalists at the New York Times and Washington Post.
Freedom of the Press Foundation, along with dozens of other press freedom and human rights organizations, are calling upon the U.S. Justice Department today to officially close the criminal investigation into WikiLeaks and its editor-in-chief Julian Assange for publishing information in the public interest. (See the full letter to Attorney …
Roundtable Discussion Hosted by Freedom of the Press Foundation
This week, James Goodale, former general counsel of the New York Times, is out with a new book called “Fighting for the Press,” which chronicles his role in convincing the New York Times to publish the Pentagon Papers, and then convincing the Supreme Court the Times was protected by …