Wikileaks’ Assange backed by 3 influential Americans against espionage charges

LONDON - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who might face trial on espionage charges in the US, has gained support of at least three influential people, who believe that the blame should be focused on leakers and not on Assange.

According to the Washington Post, the supporters are of the opinion that Assange was merely the middleman between some of the newspapers and magazines that were given a first crack at classified military and diplomatic documents.

Jack L. Goldsmith, who was widely considered as one of the brightest stars in the conservative legal firmament when he joined the Bush administration Justice Department in 2003, wrote on the Lawfare blog that he is among those people who think that Assange is being “unduly vilified.”

“I certainly do not support or like his disclosure of secrets that harm U.S. national security or foreign policy interests. But as all the hand-wringing over the 1917 Espionage Act shows, it is not obvious what law he has violated,” he added.

Goldsmith’s remarks came only a few days after libertarian standard-bearer Representative Ron Paul praised WikiLeaks for exposing America’s “delusional foreign policy.”

“When presented with embarrassing disclosures about U.S. spying and meddling, the policy that requires so much spying and meddling is not questioned. Instead the media focuses on how authorities might prosecute the publishers of such information,” the paper quoted Paul, as saying.

On Monday influential Harvard political scientist Stephen M. Walt endorsed Goldsmith’s views, asking whether The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward should not be prosecuted for publishing secrets if Assange was. (ANI)