The Mission of the Press is “to serve the governed, not the governors”—Justice Hugo Black.
Seven United States Members of Congress for Assange
April 11, 2023 Alphabetically by surname
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5. Ilhan Abdullahi OMAR-Minnesota- 3 U.S. Congresses 116th – 118th (2019 – present). Previously State of Minnesota House of Representatives |
At the time that letter was published, the Defending Rights & Dissent organization in a press release recalled some of the history of the persecution and prosecution of Julian Assange.
On April 11, 2019, after seven years of what was effectively incarceration in the Ecuadoran embassy in London, a change of government in Ecuador rescinded the WikiLeaks publisher/journalist’s citizenship; and turned him over to British authorities. This action “followed years of (USA) CIA plotting against Assange that included “drawing up ‘options’” for assassinating the journalist, “contracting with the security company charged with surveilling the Ecuadorian embassy.”When the changed government of Ecuador betrayed Assange and turned him over to British agents, men arrived at the embassy (usually an place of protection) and dragged Julian Assange out of the Ecuadoran embassy in London and threw him into a vehicle that curried him to Britain’s maximum-security-made-for-murders Belmarsh Prison to languish while “fighting” (via representatives, supporters, family) extradition demanded by powerful U.S. interests, agents, entities and individuals.
The signatories to the April U.S. Congressional letter said, “The prosecution of Julian Assange for carrying out journalistic activities” weakens the credibility of the United States “as a defender of these values.”
The action undermines the moral standing of United States on the world stage, and effectively grants cover to authoritarianism—rejecting valid, evidence-based human rights conventions; and supplanting rule of law and human rights conventions with precedent that “justifies the criminalization of journalistic reporting.”
UK/USA combined government complicity and powerful impunity holds Assange suspended in one tortuous condition awaiting (and fearing) transfer to another even worse USA Guantanamo Bay-like eventuality.
The Congressional signatories conclude their appeal to the AG by suggesting the obvious. “At any moment…, by simply dropping the U.S. charges” against Assange, “the U.S. Department of Justice can halt the harmful proceedings (against Assange) ….”
“Government’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government,” attributed to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black.
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his week a few more Members of the U.S. Congress and one Member of the Senate followed the example of their colleagues, this time addressed to the Forty-sixth President of the United States of America.
“Journalism is not a crime,” Congressman James McGovern declares. “The work reporters do is about transparency, trust, and speaking truth to power. When they are unjustly targeted, all of us suffer the consequences.
“The stakes are too high for us to remain silent.”
Sixteen United States Lawmakers for Assange
November 2023 Alphabetically by surname
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2. Eric Wayne BURLISON-Missouri - 1 current U.S. Congress (House) 118th (2023 – Present). Previously Member of State of Missouri House and Senate (successively) 3. Cori Anika BUSH-Missouri - 2 U.S Congresses (House) 117th – 118th (2021 – Present) 4. Gregorio Eduardo CASAR-Texas - 1 current U.S. Congress (House) 118th (2023 – Present). Previously Austin City Council Member 5. Jesús G. “Chuy” GARCÍA-Illinois -1 current U.S. Congress (House) 118th (2023 – Present). Previously Member of Chicago City Council, Member of State of Illinois Senate, Board of Commissioners of Cook County (successively)
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11. Alexandria OCASIO-Cortez-New York -1 current U.S. Congress (House) 118th (2023 – Present)
15. Matthew Martin ROSENDALE Sr.-Montana - 2 U.S. Congresses (House) 117th – 118th (2021 – Present). Previously Member of State of Montana House and Senate and Auditor (successively) 16. Rashida Harbi TLAIB-Michigan - 3 U.S. Congresses (House) (116th-118th Congresses) 2019-present). Previously State of Michigan House of Representatives
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Governance by Caprice, Pandering and Self Interest
OR
Governments, Leadership,
Public officials Upholding Law, Justice under Law, International Conventions, Universal
Human Rights
In distinguishing U.S. law and the intentions of law from self-interest or capriciousness,
the November letter writers note that the “Espionage Act” of 1917 “was
ostensibly intended to punish and imprison government employees and contractors
for providing or selling state secrets to enemy governments.”
The “Espionage Act” was “not intended to punish journalists and whistleblowers for attempting to inform the public about serious issues—that some U.S. government officials might prefer to keep secret.” An essential code allied with the institution of a free press must be upheld:
“It is the duty of journalists to seek out sources, including documentary evidence, in order to report to the public on the activities of government.”
Government must refrain from pursuing “unnecessary prosecution that risks criminalizing common journalistic practices and thus chilling the work of the free press.”
Final Note from Black and UDHR
More generally the Universal Declaration of Human Rights notes among its articles
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Other Sources
Official U.S. House website of Congresswoman Tlaib “Tlaib Leads Letter to DOJ to Drop Charges against Julian Assange; Defends Freedom of Press,” April 11, 2023 https://tlaib.house.gov/posts/tlaib-leads-letter-to-doj-to-drop-charges-against-julian-assange-defends-freedom-of-press
PDF https://d12t4t5x3vyizu.cloudfront.net/tlaib.house.gov/uploads/2023/04/Congressional-Letter-to-DOJ-on-Julian-Assange-Indictment_Final.pdf
General reference and Congressional sources
https://bioguide.congress.gov/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Congresses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/118th_United_States_Congress
Official U.S. House website of Congressman McGovern November 14, 2023, “McGovern, Massie Issue Bipartisan, Bicameral Call for U.S. to Drop Charges against Julian Assange,”
https://mcgovern.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=400050
https://mcgovern.house.gov/uploadedfiles/20231107_assangecase_presbiden.pdf
Hugo Black https://supremecourthistory.org/associate-justices/hugo-black-1937-1971/
https://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment1/first-amendment-freedom-of-the-press.html
https://www.azquotes.com/author/1445-Hugo_Black
