In the Media

On Monday night, in what I will now call a PorcFest Miracle, I was thrilled to see a post by Stella Assange about Julian’s release. Unbelievable!

I have held Assange as hero from the start. A journalist exposing war crimes. A honest, idealistic man doing the right thing against War Pigs. Why did we think it would end differently? That they would force a humiliating plea deal from him as the cost of exposing the truth. Over many years, they wore him down. They tortured him. They kept him in solitary confinement. They destroyed his health. They put him in Belmarsh, the worst prison in the U.K.

For telling the truth.

That’s it. No one disputes the truth of the revelations.

They hate him for embarrassing them with the truth of WHO THEY ARE for the whole world to see.

The plea deal finds him guilty of one count of violating the Espionage Act. This sets a dangerous precedent, potentially criminalizing any journalism the government decides they don’t like in the future.

The press should fight back about this precedent now to vociferously undermine it, and call it what it is: the price (blackmail, one might argue) to get a stubborn, principled, truth-telling man home. Said Assange’s wife, Stella:

“I hope journalists and editors and publishers everywhere realise the danger of the US case against Julian that criminalises, that has secured a conviction for, newsgathering and publishing information that was true, that the public deserved to know.

That precedent now can and will be used in the future against the rest of the press. So it is in the interest of all of the press to seek for this current state of affairs to change through reform of the Espionage Act.

Through increased press protections, and yes, eventually when the time comes – not today – a pardon.”

Stella Assange

The plea deal is also a possible political gambit by the Democrats, since Biden will claim this as a win during this election cycle, and yet, also, the 2016 leaked DNC documents have allegedly disappeared from Wikileaks. (Huh.)

I did a spicy radio interview this morning about Julian’s release. LISTEN NOW. (My part starts around minute 22 through the end.)

Here’s ChatGPT’s summary of the disclosures that landed Assange in confinement for more than a decade:

Why they persecuted Julian Assange, a short summary…

1/Diplomatic Cables (Cablegate, 2010): Over 250,000 classified US State Department cables were released, revealing candid and often unflattering assessments of world leaders, as well as details of behind-the-scenes…

— Carla Gericke, Live Free And Thrive! (@CarlaGericke) June 26, 2024

Here’s my questions to ChatGPT on Monday (after Assange’s release but before the AI had been informed, apparently)

Summarize what happened to Julian Assange since he started Wikileaks using the frame of an honest journalist being persecuted by an immoral government hiding war crimes

ChatGPT: Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has faced significant persecution from various governments, particularly the United States, since he began his whistleblowing activities. Assange started WikiLeaks in 2006 with the aim of providing a secure platform for whistleblowers to leak classified information. The organization’s most notable release came in 2010 when it published a trove of U.S. military documents and diplomatic cables, exposing war crimes and human rights violations.

Following these disclosures, Assange became a target of intense scrutiny and legal pressure. The U.S. government, angered by the exposure of its secret activities, initiated a rigorous campaign against him. In 2010, amid these pressures, Assange faced allegations of sexual misconduct in Sweden, which many viewed as a pretext to detain him and facilitate his extradition to the U.S. Fearing extradition, Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012, where he remained for nearly seven years under increasingly restrictive conditions.

During his time in the embassy, Assange’s health deteriorated, and he continued to face psychological stress. Despite these hardships, he continued to advocate for transparency and the protection of whistleblowers. In 2019, Ecuador revoked his asylum, and British authorities arrested him. Assange was subsequently held in Belmarsh Prison, a high-security facility, under harsh conditions often described as punitive and detrimental to his health.

The U.S. government formally requested Assange’s extradition, charging him with multiple counts under the Espionage Act for publishing classified materials that revealed war crimes and government misconduct. Many journalists, human rights organizations, and advocates for press freedom condemned the charges, arguing that they posed a grave threat to journalistic practices and the public’s right to know.

Throughout this ordeal, Assange has been portrayed by supporters as a courageous journalist persecuted for revealing the truth about governmental abuses and war crimes. His treatment is seen as a stark warning to others who might seek to hold powerful entities accountable, highlighting the ongoing struggle between transparency advocates and governments seeking to conceal their wrongdoings.

Now write a version the government would approve of

ChatGPT: Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has faced legal and judicial scrutiny due to his involvement in the unauthorized release of classified information. WikiLeaks, established in 2006, became widely known in 2010 for publishing a large number of U.S. military documents and diplomatic cables, which the U.S. government contends compromised national security and endangered lives.

Following these disclosures, Assange faced legal charges unrelated to his publishing activities. In 2010, Swedish authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on allegations of sexual misconduct. Assange denied the allegations but avoided extradition to Sweden by seeking asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012. While in the embassy, Assange was accused of using his position to avoid facing justice in Sweden and disregarding legal processes.

In 2019, Ecuador revoked Assange’s asylum, and he was arrested by British authorities for breaching bail conditions. Subsequently, the U.S. government requested his extradition, charging him with multiple counts under the Espionage Act for his role in obtaining and disseminating classified information. The charges reflect the U.S. government’s stance that Assange’s actions went beyond journalistic activity and constituted a severe breach of national security protocols.

Assange is currently held in Belmarsh Prison while his extradition case is being considered by the British legal system. The U.S. government has consistently emphasized that its actions against Assange are based on legal principles and the need to protect national security, not an attempt to stifle press freedom. The legal proceedings are ongoing, with the U.S. maintaining that Assange should face justice for his alleged crimes under due process of law.