Assange and the Espionage Act

Guests: Mary McCord, Carrie DeCell

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been indicted on multiple counts of espionage, sparking many questions about the First Amendment, journalism, and national security. The charges stem from WikiLeaks’ publication of State Department materials that he obtained U.S. Army whistleblower, Chelsea Manning who was jailed for leaking the documents until 2016. Many journalists and free speech advocates are worried that this crackdown on Assange is an attempt by the Department of Justice to stymy the release of government information that would be of interest to the public. Today ono the show, we’ll talk about Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, freedom of the press, and government secrets with MARY McCORD who was the Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the Department of Justice for President Trump’s first few months in office, and with CARRIE DeCELL, staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.