In a bizarre turn of events, radical-leftist and “squad” member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and right-wing Trump-supporting Marjorie Taylor Greene team up on an important issue.
MTG and AOC are among 16 US Congressmen who have written a letter to Biden in hopes to drop extradition attempts against Assange.
Assange, the creator of Wikileaks, is currently held in a London prison while the United States fights to have him extradited for breaking the law under the Espionage Act.
BREAKING: 16 Democratic and Republican members of Congress call for president Biden to withdraw US extradition request against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange #FreeAssangeNOW pic.twitter.com/09T0uNOkD6
— Stella Assange #FreeAssangeNOW (@Stella_Assange) November 10, 2023
The Guardian has more on the story:
The group warns continuing the pursuit of Assange risks America’s bilateral relationship with Australia.
“It is the duty of journalists to seek out sources, including documentary evidence, in order to report to the public on the activities of the government,” the letter to Biden, first reported by Nine newspapers, states.
“The United States must not pursue an unnecessary prosecution that risks criminalising common journalistic practices and thus chilling the work of the free press. We urge you to ensure that this case be brought to a close in as timely a manner as possible.”
Assange remains in Belmarsh prison in London as he fights a US attempt to extradite him to face charges – including under the Espionage Act. The charges are in connection with the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as diplomatic cables, in 2010 and 2011.
Assange is a hero who exposed the tyranny of our government and their willingness to suppress anything connected to their wrongdoings.
Representative Massie took to Twitter to express his stance on the issue:
Representative @RepMcGovern and I just sent this bipartisan letter to President Biden, urging him to drop the prosecution of Julian Assange:
Dear President Biden,
As Members of Congress deeply committed to the principles of free speech and freedom of the press, we… pic.twitter.com/5usNBn88Im
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) November 10, 2023
Fox News wrote on the story 2-weeks ago as the letter was being drafted
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Washington this week to meet with Biden and is expected to bring up Assange’s case. Albanese has repeatedly called on the U.S. in recent months to end the prosecution of Assange.
A spokesperson for the Australian government said in a statement to Fox News Digital that it “has made clear its view that Mr. Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and that it should be brought to a close.”
The statement continued: “The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister have expressed this view to the governments of the United Kingdom and United States and we will continue to do so. The Australian Government cannot intervene in another country’s legal or court processes just as they are unable to intervene in Australia’s. We continue to convey our expectations that Mr. Assange is entitled to due process, humane and fair treatment, access to proper medical care, and access to his legal team.”
In April, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., led a letter to the Justice Department demanding that the charges against Assange be dropped.
“Deep concerns about this case have been repeatedly expressed by international media outlets, human rights and press freedom advocates,” Massie and McGovern wrote in the letter. “Last April, several Members of Congress argued to Attorney General Merrick Garland that ‘[e]very day that the prosecution of Julian Assange continues is another day that our own government needlessly undermines our own moral authority abroad and rolls back the freedom of the press under the First Amendment at home.’ One example: the Assange case has been cited by officials of the People’s Republic of China to claim that the U.S. is ‘hypocritical’ when it comes to support for media freedom.”
If not Biden, then hopefully, President Trump will drop the charges against Assange.
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