Prosecution of Julian Assange part of Donald Trump’s 'war on journalism', court hears

A court sketch of Julian Assange
PA

The prosecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is part of President Donald Trump’s ‘war on journalism’ and an attempt to silence his critics, the Old Bailey heard.

Trevor Timm, co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said he believes US journalists will face prosecution in the future if the attempt to try Assange for espionage is successful.

Giving evidence to Assange’s extradition hearing this afternoon, he said he believes the case is being used by the Trump administration as a “precedent setting case”.

“President Trump calls journalists who do not share his objectives ‘enemies of the people’ and goes as far as to threaten to legal action against them on a regular basis”, he said.

“The decision to indict Julian Assange is a massive and unprecedented escalation in Trump’s war on journalism, and it is no exaggeration to say the First Amendment itself is at risk.

“At the moment, President Trump is not able to pursue reporters at the New York Times or the Washington Post when they publish something which his government has classified and which is not in his interests.

“However, the prosecution of Julian Assange will remove these barriers.”

A supporter of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange protests outside the Old Bailey
REUTERS

Mr Timm, whose organisation works to protect public interest journalism, said President Trump has sued journalists in the past, has reportedly stated he wanted them to be jailed, and is said to have once admitted pursuing legal action against a reporter to “punish” them for writing about him.

He added that Trump is on record insulting members of the press on Twitter around 2,200 times since running for President in 2016, and he categorised the pursuit of Assange as the “thin end of the wedge to prosecute journalists”.

“Trump’s Justice Department is attempting to use Assange as a precedent setting case, since it is considerably easier to first prosecute a foreign publisher who is unpopular with US political classes”, asserted Mr Timm.

“It is my view that if Julian Assange is extradited, this precedent will be used against other journalists and publishers because prosecutors will be able to say that their similar journalistic activities equally did not have First Amendment protection.

“This is why these unprecedented charges against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks can be considered to be the most significant and terrifying threat to the First Amendment in the 21st century.”

He claimed the President wants to “criminalize national security journalism”, suggesting dozens of reporters at the New York Times, Washington Post and other papers “would also be in danger” if the Assange case is successful.

Mr Timm was challenged by the legal team for the US government over his status as an expert witness, suggesting he has a vested interest in the outcome of the case.

“My interest is as a press freedom advocate”, he replied. “Every single expert witness has some sort of fear that a prosecution of Assange will lead to the prosecution of many reporters.”

The court also heard that Mr Timm’s organisation has contributed $100,000 to Assange’s legal costs.

The hearing continues.

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