As for whether or not Trump should pardon him, which is the question being asked: Yes, absolutely, and I expect it to happen before the New Year. There is direct evidence tying him not only to the Trump campaign but to Trump’s family. At the very least the potential for embarrassment is high should Biden grow a hair on his ass and decide to declassify everything (he won’t, but Trump can’t know that now).
Russia paid a lot of people to post on FB in support of Trump or against Hillary. A lot. Right? Should we prosecute all of them under the Espionage Act? Should we attempt to extradite them? Should they all face capital punishment?
Being a “Russian Asset” isn’t the same as being a spy. It’s not a crime.
Maybe there is a crime here, but what? Publishing stuff like the Panama Papers? Being selective in what was published for political reasons?
So much of the justification for prosecuting Assange seems to be vitriol tied to this and his 2016 election shenanigans that has absolutely nothing to do with the actual crime he is being prosecuted for. Surely people can see that this is problematic!
2 Likes
If they were US citizens and knowingly took money from Russia to post things about the election, yes. Every last one of them.
Is that even against the law? If someone takes money from Israel to make political posts on message boards is that illegal?
I believe taking money from a foreign govt for the purpose of interfering in elections is illegal, yes. It is different from lobbying. And even lobbying on behalf of foreign govts has some requirements such as registration.
1 Like
Assange is Australian for one thing, so what’s it matter if the people Russia hired are not American. Shouldn’t we still prosecute them?
(For another thing, no we shouldn’t.)
I answered your question which wasn’t about Assange. Don’t shift the post now.
You are also wrong.
It is different from lobbying! It should be even more protected speech than lobbying, right? Like we’re just talking about a guy typing stuff on random internet message boards, not trying to influence lawmakers or heads of state. Just a guy talking to other guys. Are you sure it’s not a situation where it’s illegal for the person funding the activity but not the person doing the speech? Any examples of US citizens being prosecuted for this sort of thing?
Completely unrelated to what we are talking about.
It also wasn’t about American citizens.
Ok that wasn’t clear to me. My response was only pertaining to US citizens knowingly accepting money from Russia to post stuff designed to interfere in the election.
Also, the US is trying to extradite Assange for violating the espionage act (for publishing Chelsea Manning’s material!) and not FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) which he’s not subject to (I think) because he’s not American.
Is it illegal for me to accept money from Russia to post in this forum, right now? If not, was it illegal for me to accept Rubles to post dope anti-Biden memes on November 1?
1 Like
It would be a thousand times better to just say “fuck Assange, I would literally blow his fucking head off with a shotgun” than “he should be tried for Espionage” imo.
3 Likes
It’s not so clear that what you propose would be legal. I don’t think it is.
There are other laws. Are you talking about what you think is right, or what you think is legal?
I think the law jbro is talking about is
We have indicted some.
An interesting law that has been used to charge people at VW for lying about automobile emissions and against Al Queda. Pretty broad. Max of 5 years in prison. Pretty different than the Espionage Act, which is potentially a capital crime.