Last Updated on November 29, 2019 by Christopher G Mendla
It appears that President Trump might preemptively pardon Julian Assange of Wikileaks according to a an article in the Gatewaypundit.
Assange entered the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on June 19, 2012, where he applied and was granted political asylum. Since that time, the building has been encircled by police waiting on standby to arrest him. Many fear that should he be arrested in London, he would be extradited to the United States where he would face harsh penalties for practicing journalism.
President Donald Trump’s attorneys made a solid case for preemptively pardoning Julian Assange in a motion to dismiss a WikiLeaks-related lawsuit against the Trump campaign.
The President’s attorneys are claiming a First Ammendment right to have published DNC information that was leaked via Wikileaks. Wikileaks Tweated
Trump case may be unexpected boon for press freedoms: In trying to protect the president from a civil suit Trump’s attorneys have given legal arguments as to why journalists and publishers are immune to leak prosecutions.
A defendant may not be held accountable for disclosure of stolen information if it deals with a matter of public concern. In other words, Wikileaks didn’t steal the information, it was given to them and is arguably newsworthy. The fact that the Trump campaign made use of the information as released by Wikileaks is therefore protected.
As far as Julian Assange is concerned, charges from the United States are only part of his problem. A major part but a part. There are still the charges related to an alleged sexual assault. He may still be exiled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London but at least he would be free from the threat of criminal charges from the United States.