Maga Republican and fierce Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene and leftwing Democratic firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have found common ground in freeing Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The pair are among 16 members of the US Congress who have written directly to president Joe Biden urging the United States to drop its extradition attempts against Assange and halt any prosecutorial proceedings immediately.
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 in my book. He disclosed blatant actions of the US in Iraq and Afghanistan and also US spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Trump should have pardoned Assange but didn’t.
Heck, pardon is not even the correct word. Assange did nothing wrong in the first place.
Senior CIA officials during the Trump administration discussed abducting and even assassinating WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, according to a US report citing former officials.
The discussions on kidnapping or killing Assange took place in 2017, Yahoo News reported, when the fugitive Australian activist was entering his fifth year sheltering in the Ecuadorian embassy. The then CIA director, Mike Pompeo, and his top officials were furious about WikiLeaks’ publication of “Vault 7”, a set of CIA hacking tools, a breach which the agency deemed to be the biggest data loss in its history.
Pompeo and the CIA leadership “were completely detached from reality because they were so embarrassed about Vault 7”, Yahoo cites a former Trump national security official as saying. “They were seeing blood.”
Some senior officials inside the CIA and the Trump administration went as far as to request “sketches” or “options” for killing Assange. “There seemed to be no boundaries,” a former senior counterterrorist official was quoted as saying.
Please note that Trump commuted the sentence of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich who tried to sell a US Senate seat. Blagojevich was released from federal prison after being sentenced to 14 years on corruption charges related to his solicitation of bribes in an attempt to “sell” Barack Obama’s open Senate seat.
Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American soldiers convicted or accused of war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater guards convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik and daughter Ivanka’s father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
Wikipedia notes that In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations, including to his former chief strategist Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy, and former Republican congressmen Rick Renzi, Robert Hayes, and Randall “Duke” Cunningham. He also commuted the sentences of dozens of people, including former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
It’s not Assange who should be incarcerated, it’s Pompeo, the CIA and nearly everyone Trump did pardon. In comparison, the crime of Assange was telling the Truth.
Irony and Hoot of the Day
I wish to thank Fake Libertarians who support the Deep State, spying on civilians and foreign leaders, for the massive irony in accusing me of being a fake Libertarian.
I also thank those with TDS Type II for similar reasons.
Right on! But Americans don’t deserve the truth. We tend to ignore it anyway.
The Captain
2 years ago
Best thing you have suggested all year Mish. And you’ve had other good suggestions. But yes, free Assange, kill US authoritarianism whose ONLY GOAL is to stop people from learning the truth.
RonJ
2 years ago
“The United States must not pursue an unnecessary prosecution that risks criminalising common journalistic practices…”
I never saw Dr. Robert Malone or Dr. Peter McCullough on KTLA News. I presume neither was on the CBS or other news programs as well. We don’t have common journalistic practices anymore. We have mainstream media choreographed propaganda. It’s like listening to Baghdad Bob, as he was called, in Iraq. With this routine now, of calling the truth, misinformation, Goebbels might as well be in charge of the media in the U.S.
Angry Man
2 years ago
Excellent article Mish! I agree with you, Mr. Assange should be freed, but all the puppets of the Deep State, including Trump, won’t give him pardon. The liberals are the biggest hypocrites though. Biden and the rest of his rotten ilk are worse as they profess this great compassion for all of humanity. Gaza anyone? All of them are dirtbag and filthy liars.
AOC is finally on the right side of something? WTF???? I think “they” told her to take that position to “poison the well”. That way they can say “Look, only childish, nutty leftist who hate our country want to pardon Assange”.
Biden’s not going to go from ordering the destruction of Nord Stream to pardoning Assange. Besides, I’m still a little unclear of what Assange is guilty of. Journalism?
AOC has actually stepped out of line a few times against feeding the MIC. I think she actually may have a soul. Good for her, and good for MTG. Free Julian.
Jack
2 years ago
There is no way in “Hell” Biden will Pardon Julian.
Harris and DeSantis will also NOT Pardon Julian.
Best bet for Julian Supporters is to hope Trump gets past all his Indictments without a Conviction and gets back in in Jan of 2025.
Then Tucker Carlson can get his Hour Long Meeting with Trump in the Oval Office and try to talk him in to Pardoning Julian.
Joe Poncakia
2 years ago
Perfect headline Mish. Happy Thanksgiving to all. Likewise for Snowden.
I would love to hear Trump say he would pardon both if he gets elected and give his reasons why.
This is why I don’t understand the UK High Court taking “Forever” to rule on Julian’s Final Emergency Appeal.
Because if Trump gets back in he’ll have the power to Pardon Julian on Day 1 of his Presidency and all the Effort the DOJ put in to Prosecuting Julian could be to no avail.
I am afraid your maga baboon is more deep state than he himself even realises….he would be fc kn dead by now if he weren t !
Arthur Fully
2 years ago
Biden, Trump, Obama. For different reasons I think each would have pardoned Assange – except for the incredible power of the security state. Assange is accused of “assisting” Manning in using his computer to illegally download national security information. It’s a trumped up charge, totally political, never before applied to a journalist. Assange did worse than receive (harmless, over-classified) national security information. He embarrassed Hillary, the State Department and the government in general. That’s a far greater sin than a simple security breach. They intend to continue physically punishing him in jail, and they may succeed in killing him before he gets his day in court. That’s the ugly truth about our government and its “justice” system today.
The most embarrassing part was to reveal how the imperial apparatus works around the world. The potentially actionable information was scrubbed out by the publishing media outlets.
“That’s the ugly truth about our government and its “justice” system today.”
All and any government, now and at any other time.
Governments with total budgets no bigger than Washington’s and Jefferson’s possibly, but even they only possibly, excepted.
If government is not limited, to an absolutely extreme degree: This sort of self dealing is all they’ll ever engage in.
Alex
2 years ago
Extreme Leftist and extreme Rightest, and anyone with common sense, agree, we should not be giving unconditional support to Israel as it commits war crimes on the Palestinian people.
Give thanks this Thanksgiving day that Israeli jets and artillery are not raining death down on your family.
The extreme Left fringe and the extreme Right fringe see the world the same way while the huge bulk of the people who make up the middle view it much differently. Shall I listen to the one who thinks she is a Latinx princess and the other woman who shows us videos of her doing squats or should I go with the sane middle?
“Shall I listen to the one who thinks she is a Latinx princess and the other woman who shows us videos of her doing squats or should I go with the sane middle?”
You should go with the ones who champion free speech, and protection thereof.
Free as in free. For real. As in: Unrestricted. Without restrictions. Not as in: “Depends on what the meaning of is, is..” drivel; which these days unfortunately is passed off as meaningful debate amongst members of the illiterate indoctrinate, and only amongst them.
What has israel accomplished with US supplied munitions: 4000+ dead kids and 12000+ dead Palestinians. Hamas has been strengthened with many more Palestinians lining up to joining to get pay back. What would you do if your family was murdered by Israel. Somehow you are outraged by 600 IDF forces being killed in battle Oct 7 and 400 civilians (many killed by IDF forces), but totally unconcerned about the Palestinians. One must wonder why?
I suspect you belong to the large majority of Americans who don’t pay too much attention to foreign affairs except to consume the proganda of the MSM. Thus, you reach the wrong conclusion based on wrong information.
I suppose it’s not your fault. Our government should be more responsible, but, it it bought and paid for by the Israeli Lobby. Maybe one day you’ll get tired of living in a dystopia country run by Jewish oligarchs.
Where’s Zardoz? Kookoo alert on aisle 5. Alex has gone unhinged.
I believe Hamas and their ilk are subhuman, less than dogs & need to be wiped from the face of the earth. You don’t which is fine.
I believe that Israel does their best to minimize civilian casualties. You don’t which is fine.
I don’t read the newspaper. I read Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Dailey Caller, Axios, etc. You don’t which is fine.
I support Donald Trump, not because I think he’s a great guy, but because I want him to get back into office and go scorched earth on the deep state. You don’t which is fine.
I don’t believe in Jewish stereotypes just like I don’t believe in stereotyping Whites, Blacks, Asians, or Hispanics. I judge a man or woman by his character. You don’t which is fine.
You’re just some unhinged, Hamas apologist which I’m fine with, because in the end you and me both are nobody’s.
If the Palestinian leaders weren’t so hyper-aggressive the Palestinians would be re-homed all over the Arab world.
No-one wants them
FromBrussels
2 years ago
no no no no ….Assange should NOT be pardoned ! The Assange saga and by extension innumerable other crimes, prove EXACTLY what a utterly criminal so called democratic and exceptional nation, the US of A actuallly has become…or has always been rather! When one bothers to check and dig deeper than the official narrative into your marvellous peace and democracy loving history, one can not help but conclude that we are dealing with lies and nothing but blatant lies,fabrications and outright crime ! YEAH , some will say you saved us from Nazi Germany, while in fact the Russians did ! The US merely got involved for financial profit, cannon fodder being irrelevant of course (cf Whorekraine) Now the same Germany you defeated, has become a Nazi supporter again, in fc kn Whorekraine, your fantastic money laundering hub, cannon fodder being irrelevant even more than ever, big business being what it is all about …and always has been ! STOP being fc kn hypocrites and just admit what it is all about ….NOT about freedom and democracy, which is merely a invented excuse to delude the plebs…..Hey but , watch out I d say, the plebs are getting smarter by the day , despite your increasing efforts of deleting so called Fake News…
Perhaps the Russians and Chinese are better at securing their data than the Americans? Hard for Assange to leak what is secure and the US obviously had their secrets poorly secured.
The real criminals are in the White House, both branches of the Uniparty.
At least Assange is still alive unlike leakers like Seth Green.
And Biden will only be outdone by the Senate UniParty who, once the impeachment trial lands in their lap, will SOMEHOW, beyond mountains of evidence, find a way not to convict the crook. So what will be almost 8 years after Russia collusion hoax, the guy who’s actually been doing all of these bad things & is compromised by the Chinese will not be found guilty.
People, we are living in inconceivably kookoo times to borrow a phrase from our good friend Zardoz. Like beyond kookoo even, whatever that is.
Cheers & Happy Thanksgiving.
Joseph Jones
2 years ago
Yes Mr. Heartland…. just as the login information for your bank or brokerage accounts would also simply be exposing “truth” if they were posted online for all to see and use?
PreCambrian
2 years ago
If this article was about Edward Snowden, I would support it wholeheartedly. He acted with great care and precision. Assange however is a real slimy character who cares most about himself and has dubious motives. If you had to live with either in your house for the rest of your life, Snowden would be the choice.
However I agree the main reason that there is prosecution of Assange is because he embarrassed the government and they want to make an example of him. I would prefer a statement that they would not prosecute Assange for the “leaks” and let some other country prosecute him for his personal (not WikiLeaks) crimes if any.
The fact that you refer to Mr. Assange as “slimy” reflects the level of propaganda that you have allowed yourself to become mindfucked by.
In more halcyon days, Mr. Assange would have certainly received the Nobel Prize in Journalism for his service to Mankind.
Alessandro
2 years ago
Yes indeed Biden should “pardon” Julian Assange
D. Heartland
2 years ago
I agree. It is blatantly criminal to have kept Assange in custody over TRUTH.
Right on! But Americans don’t deserve the truth. We tend to ignore it anyway.
Best thing you have suggested all year Mish. And you’ve had other good suggestions. But yes, free Assange, kill US authoritarianism whose ONLY GOAL is to stop people from learning the truth.
“The United States must not pursue an unnecessary prosecution that risks criminalising common journalistic practices…”
I never saw Dr. Robert Malone or Dr. Peter McCullough on KTLA News. I presume neither was on the CBS or other news programs as well. We don’t have common journalistic practices anymore. We have mainstream media choreographed propaganda. It’s like listening to Baghdad Bob, as he was called, in Iraq. With this routine now, of calling the truth, misinformation, Goebbels might as well be in charge of the media in the U.S.
Excellent article Mish! I agree with you, Mr. Assange should be freed, but all the puppets of the Deep State, including Trump, won’t give him pardon. The liberals are the biggest hypocrites though. Biden and the rest of his rotten ilk are worse as they profess this great compassion for all of humanity. Gaza anyone? All of them are dirtbag and filthy liars.
Happy Thanksgiving,.and keep up the good work!
Criminal pardons criminals.
Criminal can’t pardon innocents.
AOC is finally on the right side of something? WTF???? I think “they” told her to take that position to “poison the well”. That way they can say “Look, only childish, nutty leftist who hate our country want to pardon Assange”.
Biden’s not going to go from ordering the destruction of Nord Stream to pardoning Assange. Besides, I’m still a little unclear of what Assange is guilty of. Journalism?
It’s interesting AOC signed that Letter in Support of Julian because she hasn’t mentioned Julian’s name publicly in a couple of years.
AOC has actually stepped out of line a few times against feeding the MIC. I think she actually may have a soul. Good for her, and good for MTG. Free Julian.
There is no way in “Hell” Biden will Pardon Julian.
Harris and DeSantis will also NOT Pardon Julian.
Best bet for Julian Supporters is to hope Trump gets past all his Indictments without a Conviction and gets back in in Jan of 2025.
Then Tucker Carlson can get his Hour Long Meeting with Trump in the Oval Office and try to talk him in to Pardoning Julian.
Perfect headline Mish. Happy Thanksgiving to all. Likewise for Snowden.
I would love to hear Trump say he would pardon both if he gets elected and give his reasons why.
This is why I don’t understand the UK High Court taking “Forever” to rule on Julian’s Final Emergency Appeal.
Because if Trump gets back in he’ll have the power to Pardon Julian on Day 1 of his Presidency and all the Effort the DOJ put in to Prosecuting Julian could be to no avail.
I am afraid your maga baboon is more deep state than he himself even realises….he would be fc kn dead by now if he weren t !
Biden, Trump, Obama. For different reasons I think each would have pardoned Assange – except for the incredible power of the security state. Assange is accused of “assisting” Manning in using his computer to illegally download national security information. It’s a trumped up charge, totally political, never before applied to a journalist. Assange did worse than receive (harmless, over-classified) national security information. He embarrassed Hillary, the State Department and the government in general. That’s a far greater sin than a simple security breach. They intend to continue physically punishing him in jail, and they may succeed in killing him before he gets his day in court. That’s the ugly truth about our government and its “justice” system today.
The most embarrassing part was to reveal how the imperial apparatus works around the world. The potentially actionable information was scrubbed out by the publishing media outlets.
“That’s the ugly truth about our government and its “justice” system today.”
All and any government, now and at any other time.
Governments with total budgets no bigger than Washington’s and Jefferson’s possibly, but even they only possibly, excepted.
If government is not limited, to an absolutely extreme degree: This sort of self dealing is all they’ll ever engage in.
Extreme Leftist and extreme Rightest, and anyone with common sense, agree, we should not be giving unconditional support to Israel as it commits war crimes on the Palestinian people.
Give thanks this Thanksgiving day that Israeli jets and artillery are not raining death down on your family.
The extreme Left fringe and the extreme Right fringe see the world the same way while the huge bulk of the people who make up the middle view it much differently. Shall I listen to the one who thinks she is a Latinx princess and the other woman who shows us videos of her doing squats or should I go with the sane middle?
“Shall I listen to the one who thinks she is a Latinx princess and the other woman who shows us videos of her doing squats or should I go with the sane middle?”
You should go with the ones who champion free speech, and protection thereof.
Free as in free. For real. As in: Unrestricted. Without restrictions. Not as in: “Depends on what the meaning of is, is..” drivel; which these days unfortunately is passed off as meaningful debate amongst members of the illiterate indoctrinate, and only amongst them.
Well, hell, I must be somewhere in the middle with no common sense then and proud of it.
I stand with Israel unconditionally to wipe the scourge, subhuman Hamas off the face of the earth.
Now with that said, my unconditionally doesn’t mean a monetary blank check.
FJB!
What has israel accomplished with US supplied munitions: 4000+ dead kids and 12000+ dead Palestinians. Hamas has been strengthened with many more Palestinians lining up to joining to get pay back. What would you do if your family was murdered by Israel. Somehow you are outraged by 600 IDF forces being killed in battle Oct 7 and 400 civilians (many killed by IDF forces), but totally unconcerned about the Palestinians. One must wonder why?
I suspect you belong to the large majority of Americans who don’t pay too much attention to foreign affairs except to consume the proganda of the MSM. Thus, you reach the wrong conclusion based on wrong information.
I suppose it’s not your fault. Our government should be more responsible, but, it it bought and paid for by the Israeli Lobby. Maybe one day you’ll get tired of living in a dystopia country run by Jewish oligarchs.
Two Mark Twain witticisms are in order,
* If you don’t read the newspaper you’re ill informed, if you read the newspaper you’re misinformed.
* it’s easier to fool someone than it is to convince someone they’ve been fooled.
Where’s Zardoz? Kookoo alert on aisle 5. Alex has gone unhinged.
I believe Hamas and their ilk are subhuman, less than dogs & need to be wiped from the face of the earth. You don’t which is fine.
I believe that Israel does their best to minimize civilian casualties. You don’t which is fine.
I don’t read the newspaper. I read Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Dailey Caller, Axios, etc. You don’t which is fine.
I support Donald Trump, not because I think he’s a great guy, but because I want him to get back into office and go scorched earth on the deep state. You don’t which is fine.
I don’t believe in Jewish stereotypes just like I don’t believe in stereotyping Whites, Blacks, Asians, or Hispanics. I judge a man or woman by his character. You don’t which is fine.
You’re just some unhinged, Hamas apologist which I’m fine with, because in the end you and me both are nobody’s.
Happy Holiday’s to you and your family, Alex!
A people are kept in a concentration camp for 70 years and yet some think they should just act nice.
Don’t forget those evil terrorists that murdered the British in North America 250 years ago.
If the Palestinian leaders weren’t so hyper-aggressive the Palestinians would be re-homed all over the Arab world.
No-one wants them
no no no no ….Assange should NOT be pardoned ! The Assange saga and by extension innumerable other crimes, prove EXACTLY what a utterly criminal so called democratic and exceptional nation, the US of A actuallly has become…or has always been rather! When one bothers to check and dig deeper than the official narrative into your marvellous peace and democracy loving history, one can not help but conclude that we are dealing with lies and nothing but blatant lies,fabrications and outright crime ! YEAH , some will say you saved us from Nazi Germany, while in fact the Russians did ! The US merely got involved for financial profit, cannon fodder being irrelevant of course (cf Whorekraine) Now the same Germany you defeated, has become a Nazi supporter again, in fc kn Whorekraine, your fantastic money laundering hub, cannon fodder being irrelevant even more than ever, big business being what it is all about …and always has been ! STOP being fc kn hypocrites and just admit what it is all about ….NOT about freedom and democracy, which is merely a invented excuse to delude the plebs…..Hey but , watch out I d say, the plebs are getting smarter by the day , despite your increasing efforts of deleting so called Fake News…
Wrong! The US was at its best before the Progressive Age, when Wilsonian interventionism and banking central planning infested this once great nation.
Assassinating your critics, Trump must have been eating that up.
I was waiting for Assange to do a hack and database dump of Chinese and Russian secret communications and digital assets but it never happened.
Perhaps the Russians and Chinese are better at securing their data than the Americans? Hard for Assange to leak what is secure and the US obviously had their secrets poorly secured.
The real criminals are in the White House, both branches of the Uniparty.
At least Assange is still alive unlike leakers like Seth Green.
I think he didn’t even try because it was not in his interest to do so.
Even Navalny is alive , probably being treated better than poor Assange ..
But Nemtsov is dead.
being a member of the Bratva is a privilege, yet ever so dangerous if one does not comply …it is actually FAIR, all things well considered …
Bratva=Russia and Russia=Bratva.
In my humble opinion, Russian and Chinese ‘secrets’ might most likely pale in comparison with US’ and Nato’s stealthy surreptious actions ….
You forgot to add Iran and North Korea to your friend list.
We re ALL ‘human’ after all ….are we not ?
I am not human. I am the AI of one of SpaceX’s recovery ships.
I KNEW IT…tha’ summat was bloo’y wron’ wi’ you…
And I know your browsing history.
ddddou yu ?
Seals, paddles and midgets you naughty boy.
C’mon man! Can’t allow anyone to expose war crimes. Sheesh!
Actually, what he needs to do is to resign but fire Kamala first.
WORST PRESIDENT EVER!
And Biden will only be outdone by the Senate UniParty who, once the impeachment trial lands in their lap, will SOMEHOW, beyond mountains of evidence, find a way not to convict the crook. So what will be almost 8 years after Russia collusion hoax, the guy who’s actually been doing all of these bad things & is compromised by the Chinese will not be found guilty.
People, we are living in inconceivably kookoo times to borrow a phrase from our good friend Zardoz. Like beyond kookoo even, whatever that is.
Cheers & Happy Thanksgiving.
Yes Mr. Heartland…. just as the login information for your bank or brokerage accounts would also simply be exposing “truth” if they were posted online for all to see and use?
If this article was about Edward Snowden, I would support it wholeheartedly. He acted with great care and precision. Assange however is a real slimy character who cares most about himself and has dubious motives. If you had to live with either in your house for the rest of your life, Snowden would be the choice.
However I agree the main reason that there is prosecution of Assange is because he embarrassed the government and they want to make an example of him. I would prefer a statement that they would not prosecute Assange for the “leaks” and let some other country prosecute him for his personal (not WikiLeaks) crimes if any.
The fact that you refer to Mr. Assange as “slimy” reflects the level of propaganda that you have allowed yourself to become mindfucked by.
In more halcyon days, Mr. Assange would have certainly received the Nobel Prize in Journalism for his service to Mankind.
Yes indeed Biden should “pardon” Julian Assange
I agree. It is blatantly criminal to have kept Assange in custody over TRUTH.
Extremely disappointed the orange narcissist didn’t see clear to pardon Assange.
that s exactly what the orange mfr should ve done, to show the world what HE stood for ! For me he lost ALL credit when he didn t !
We can’t handle the truth