Join us in telling AG Merrick Garland to drop the charges against Julian Assange now!
Call the Department of Justice Comment Line: 202 353-1555 & select Option 1 to leave your message
SAMPLE PHONE SCRIPT:
Hello, my name is [NAME] and I’m calling from [CITY] to ask AG Merrick Garland to drop all charges against Julian Assange immediately. Prosecuting a journalist for publishing truthful information in the public interest sets a chilling precedent for reporters around the globe. If Assange is extradited, no journalist anywhere in the world would be safe from life imprisonment in the United States.
Thank you for your time.
Email the Department of Justice at www.justice.gov/contact/us (Go to www.justice.gov/contact us to fill out the email form to the Justice Department.)
SAMPLE EMAIL (copy & paste or create your own):
AG Garland: You must drop all charges against Julian Assange immediately! Prosecuting a journalist for publishing truthful information in the public interest sets a chilling precedent for reporters around the globe. If Assange is extradited, no journalist anywhere in the world would be safe from life imprisonment in the United States.
As you know, the Obama administration did not indict Assange on the grounds that what he did is protected by the First Amendment and what it termed “the New York Times problem.” Obama’s Justice Department spokesman, Mathew Miller, said “there is no way to prosecute him for publishing information without the same theory being applied to journalists.”
Despite President Biden’s promise to end Trump’s extraordinary attacks on the press, he has continued to seek Assange’s extradition. The freedom to practice adversarial journalism is a sacred American right and the prosecution of Julian Assange is the most significant threat to the First Amendment in our time. Drop all charges against Assange immediately!
[YOUR NAME]
Write a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland
SAMPLE LETTER (copy & paste or create your own)
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR STREET ADDRESS]
[YOUR CITY, STATE & ZIP]
[YOUR PHONE NUMBER]
[YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS]
[THE DATE]
The Honorable Merrick Garland
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of the Attorney General
960 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Attorney General Garland:
I am writing to demand you drop all charges against Julian Assange immediately. Prosecuting a journalist for publishing truthful information in the public interest sets a chilling precedent for reporters around the globe. If Assange is extradited, no journalist anywhere in the world would be safe from life imprisonment in the United States.
As you know, the Obama administration did not indict Assange on the grounds that what he did is protected by the First Amendment and what it termed “the New York Times problem.” Obama’s Justice Department spokesman, Mathew Miller, said “there is no way to prosecute him for publishing information without the same theory being applied to journalists.”
Despite President Biden’s promise to end Trump’s extraordinary attacks on the press, he has continued to seek Assange’s extradition. The freedom to practice adversarial journalism is a sacred American right and the prosecution of Julian Assange is the most significant threat to the First Amendment in our time. Drop all charges against Assange immediately!
Thank you for your consideration.
[YOUR NAME]