Congress Announces Hearing Next Week on WikiLeaks
Hearing Will Discuss New Laws to Silence Publication of Embarrassing Cables
The House Judiciary Committee has announced that they will hold a hearing on the 1917 Espionage Act and its affects on cracking down on WikiLeaks next Thursday. The hearing will focus on revisions to the act to make it easier to silence the future publication of embarrassing material.
The Obama Administration is said to be hoping to use the Espionage Act to move against WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, but while the Wilson Administration had some success in using it to arrest antiwar activists its Constitutionality is severely questioned, as is its applicability to the WikiLeaks case.
The concerns that the government can’t legally stifle this sort of dissent appears to be at the center of the hearings, which will consider ways to get around the ostensible guarantee for the freedom of the press.
The Justice Department insists now that charges against Assange are not imminent, though it does seem that the administration is still pushing Sweden in the hopes of acquiring him as a detainee, even if he isn’t actually charged with anything.
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Steve Hogan
December 10th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
I was going to argue that ex post facto laws are unconstitutional. Then I remembered that the constitution no longer applies.
dve
December 11th, 2010 at 3:30 am
The only thing congress should be looking into is the incredibly embarrassing behavior of the U.S. government as uncovered by Wikileaks!
curmudgeonvt
December 11th, 2010 at 5:27 am
The press – even the Fawning Corporate Main Stream Media – should understand that this cannot be good for what they are supposed to be doing. Assuming that there are still media outlets that have not already abrogated their responsibilities, there ought to be a mighty cry against this sort of attempt to throttle the flow of information to the public. Surely they understand that if the Congress is able to reverse-engineer the Espionage Act so that it becomes illegal to expose anything the USG does then there would no longer be a use for them. Big Brother would truly have come to rule.
Operation Payback
December 11th, 2010 at 6:05 am
Steve,
I know it feels like things have changed but in reality it’s always been like this. Corrupt politicians have always represented corporations and secret societies, never “we the people”.
The “people” are nothing but cannon fodder and slaves.
The constitution is nothing but a romantic fairy-tale.
In the words of Langston Hughes,
“America never was”
skulz fontaine
December 11th, 2010 at 7:23 am
'Cablegate-Redux', Congress to "hold hearings." Let the 'sound and the fury' commence…
jonathan swift
December 11th, 2010 at 9:08 am
Will we see a serious discussion versus demonizing and trivializing at this congressional hearing? The essential question is this: when does the principle of government secrecy need to be over-ridden as a safeguard against rogue government actions? Is that time now? And if not, why not? What harm is being done, specifically, by these leaks?
jack
December 11th, 2010 at 9:28 am
yeah look out 4 false flags to get the snowball rolling,can isay that or s9hould i put a condom over my tortured war crimes
jack
December 11th, 2010 at 9:38 am
probably spoken in tongues,with giant snakes presiding as judge,in a lair of "worms"
Bill
December 11th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
My prediction: (not that I am happy about it)
Assange will be extradited to Sweden
Nothing much will happen on the rape case
Sweden will cave to US demands.
Assange will be extradited to US and indefinately held without charges.