Rashida Tlaib’s Amendment Proposal

Summary:
The 14-year-long legal battle against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has concluded with a plea deal in which Assange pleaded guilty to violating the Espionage Act and received time served for the five years he spent in a British maximum-security prison. Assange’s prosecution has reignited debates about the Espionage Act’s impact on press freedom and its contradiction with the First Amendment.
Representative Rashida Tlaib has proposed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act to reform the Espionage Act. These reforms aim to protect journalists and whistleblowers by limiting criminal provisions to government insiders who have a duty to protect classified information and by creating a public interest defense for disclosing information about war crimes and civil liberties violations. The article argues that these reforms are essential to preserving press freedom and curbing the government’s ability to use the Espionage Act to suppress political speech and journalism.