Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that newsgathering activities are protected under the First Amendment, and that the United States should drop all charges against and attempts to extradite Julian Assange.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 1175 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that newsgathering activities are protected under the First Amendment, and that the United States should drop all charges against and attempts to extradite Julian Assange. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 2, 2020 Ms. GABBARD (for herself and Mr. MASSIE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that newsgathering activities are protected under the First Amendment, and that the United States should drop all charges against and attempts to extradite Julian Assange. Whereas the freedom of news organizations to acquire and publish information is protected under the First Amend- ment to the Constitution; Whereas, in 2010, Wikileaks disclosed a cache of hundreds of thousands of Department of State cables, Guantanamo Bay detainee assessments, and United States military re- ports related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1175.IH HR1175 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 1175 IH Whereas the disclosure of United States military documents exposed war crimes against civilians in the Middle East; Whereas, in 2013, the Department of Justice declined to pur- sue charges against Julian Assange for publishing classi- fied documents due to what Justice officials described as a ‘‘New York Times problem’’ which would cause the prosecution of other news organizations and journalists who have published classified material; Whereas, on June 19, 2014, human rights and press freedom organizations sent a letter to then-Attorney General Eric Holder urging him to close all criminal investigations into Wikileaks and Julian Assange due to concerns that ‘‘ac- tions against Wikileaks undermine the commitment of the U.S. Government to freedom of speech’’; Whereas, on April 11, 2019, the London Metropolitan Police Service arrested Julian Assange for outstanding war- rants, including a provisional warrant at the request of the United States Government; Whereas the Department of Justice unsealed a March 2018 indictment against Julian Assange for violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act; Whereas, on May 23, 2019, a Federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment adding 17 charges against Julian Assange for violation of the Espionage Act; Whereas, on June 10, 2019, the United States Government submitted a formal request to the United Kingdom for the extradition of Julian Assange; Whereas United States Government prosecutors now claim that any journalist or news organization that publishes classified material is subject to prosecution under the Es- pionage Act, which would have led to the indictment of VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1175.IH HR1175 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 1175 IH news organizations for the publication of the Pentagon Papers; Whereas press freedom, human rights, and privacy rights or- ganizations across five continents sent a letter to the Government of the United Kingdom urging the imme- diate release of Julian Assange; Whereas previous administrations have prosecuted whistle- blowers and other journalistic sources under the Espio- nage Act for leaking classified information, the current Department of Justice has taken the further step of going after the publisher; Whereas the successful prosecution of Julian Assange under the Espionage Act would allow the Federal Government to indict any news organization or journalist for pub- lishing classified information, which occurs on a regular basis; and Whereas the successful prosecution of Julian Assange under the Espionage Act would have a profoundly detrimental impact on newsgathering and freedom of the press: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep- 1 resentatives that— 2 (1) newsgathering activities, including the pub- 3 lication of leaked classified information, are pro- 4 tected under the First Amendment to the Constitu- 5 tion; 6 (2) freedom of the press is a vital function of 7 a free society in which government is accountable to 8 the people; and 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1175.IH HR1175 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 1175 IH (3) the Federal Government should drop all 1 charges under the Espionage Act against Julian 2 Assange. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR1175.IH HR1175 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS