If you have a freedom of the PRESS, then so does Julian Assange Retweet
If Julian Assange is guilty of espionage, then so is The New York Times. 
President Trump’s Justice Department accuses Assange of seeking, acquiring, and publishing classified material. Well, this is exactly what The New York Times did when it published The Pentagon Papers in the 1970s.
The Justice Department counters that The New York Times is real journalism practiced by real journalists. They assert that Assange is not a real journalist. What are the implications of this view?
The Justice Department is creating a media ‘priesthood,’ where only ‘real’ journalists enjoy the freedom of the press. Federal prosecutors will anoint this priesthood by deciding who is and who is not a journalist — who does and does not enjoy the press freedom. You’ll be able to tell who is and is not amongst the chosen — the unchosen will be in jails and prisons.
If they start with the premise that Assange is not a real journalist, then he does not enjoy the freedom of the press. Stealing his press freedom is the first step down a dark path. It’s a path towards control of what you can know.
So the prosecution against Julian Assange is really an assault on you.
Here at Downsize DC, we have used First Amendment, freedom of the press arguments to attack and undermine incumbent protection laws that masquerade as campaign finance regulations. Our unique freedom of the press argument was crucial in the Citizens United decision. But…
If the freedom of the press is not an individual right, but merely an institutional right conferred by politicians and bureaucrats on a select priesthood, then this line of attack against the incumbents may also be lost.
There’s a lot at stake in the Assange case.
We can leave our fate to the courts, or we can strike at the root of the problem, the Trump Justice Department. And he promised to “drain the swamp.”
Tell the President to short circuit the prosecution, by immediately…
This action would not only protect Julian from the current Justice Department, but from all future attempts at prosecution. It would also send a strong message that the freedom of the press still serves as a government watchdog.
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Jim Babka,
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.