Dan Gillmor

1) Assange is not my hero. Wikileaks did important work early on but it lost the high ground in 2015-16.

2) His imprisonment was an outrageous abuse, and he understandably took the deal.

3) The guilty plea will leave a sword hanging over ALL national security journalism going forward.

4) Maybe you don't think Biden will use this precedent to shut down vital investigations, but you can be absolutely certain that Trump would -- and so will future administration.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/jun/25/julian-assange-plea-deal-with-us-free-to-return-australia

Julian Assange leaves UK after striking deal with US justice department

It is anticipated the WikiLeaks founder will plead guilty to violating US espionage law at a hearing in Saipan and will be allowed to return to Australia

The Guardian
Jun 25, 2024 at 1:43amWeb
Show threadLightning Bjornsson*  Jun 25, 2024
@dangillmor grug. Not good
Show thread#?.info Jun 25, 2024

@dangillmor I don't think Trump will "use this precedent", he doesn't need it. I find it hard to believe that if the Biden administration had dropped the charges against Assange it would affect Trump's future attacks on journalism in any way.

Trump is going to attack journalism irrespective of what the Biden admin does or what precedents it sets.

(Edited: realized this came off way more argumentative/confrontational than I intended, sorry)

Show threadJyrgen NJun 25, 2024
@dangillmor @cm I do think Biden would/will use this precedent to shut down vital investigations, but Trump would do so with pleasure and a vengeance.
Show threadPetraPandaJun 25, 2024
@dangillmor
Whistle-blowers all over the world, even in seemingly unautocratic places are being jailed for revealing the truth.
Australia complained about Assange's incarceration, while at the sane time jailing someone for revealing how it cheated Timor Leste out of billions of resource revenues (the poorest nation on earth), by illegally tapping government phone lines while self-aggrandising as the saviour, or by jailing a senior employee of the federal taxation office who disclosed corruption
Show threadOliver D. ReithmaierJun 25, 2024
@dangillmor Biden can and will. Obama started it. It's a bipartisan endeavour, really.
Show threadCaptSutter (āŒā– _ā– )Jun 25, 2024

@dangillmor if Assange had been deported to the US he would been convicted in a show trial. If the charges had been dropped this year it could have been started again at any time. For Assange this was the best deal in town.

It was a face saving matter for the US, but you are right, this might mean the end of a free press anywhere where the Americans are concerned.

Take what you can get?

Show threadDan Neuman šŸ‡ØšŸ‡¦Jun 25, 2024
@dangillmor Assange and his hatred for Hilary Clinton is one of the primary reasons we got Trump.
Show threadLinux and praxis: part of the resistance šŸ‡µšŸ‡ø ā˜®ļøJun 25, 2024
@dangillmor Fair enough, but I rejoice for him, Stella and child. He put his neck on the line and has done enough.
Show threadVirginicusJun 25, 2024
@dangillmor Generally agree but Iā€™d push further on #1. Wikileaks attacked the USA in 2016 and did enormous damage.