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 Amendment 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 reports related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; 


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•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 pursue charges against Julian Assange for publishing classified 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 ‘‘actions 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 warrants, 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 Espionage Act, which would have led to the indictment of 


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•HRES 1175 IH 

news organizations for the publication of the Pentagon 

Papers; 

Whereas press freedom, human rights, and privacy rights organizations across five continents sent a letter to the 

Government of the United Kingdom urging the immediate release of Julian Assange; 

Whereas previous administrations have prosecuted whistleblowers and other journalistic sources under the Espionage 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 publishing 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 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) newsgathering activities, including the pub4 lication of leaked classified information, are pro5 tected under the First Amendment to the Constitu6 tion; 

7 (2) freedom of the press is a vital function of 

8 a free society in which government is accountable to 

9 the people; and 


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•HRES 1175 IH 

1 (3) the Federal Government should drop all 

2 charges under the Espionage Act against Julian 

3 Assange. 

Æ 


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