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0 pointsTalanes5y ago0 comments

>What journalists do is not retain them, it's publish them, which AFAIK is not illegal.

Unless you are just immediately releasing all documents you receive unedited, you will have to retain them for a period first.

Would a journalist raided the second before he could click publish be committing a crime, while a second later he would not be committing a crime and have never been committing a crime.

0 comments

morelisp5y ago

Most journalists are not "an officer, employee, contractor, or consultant of the United States" and therefore it's not a crime for them to retain them at all.

boomboomsubban5y ago

They picked the wrong part of the code, 18 U.S. Code § 793 and 798 both have various relevant laws.

africanboy5y ago

True.

I'm not American, but I think that two points are relevant to the discussion

- few people in American history have been prosecuted for leaking classified documents, the most simple explanation is that it would mean revealing even more classified documents during the trial

- journalist can’t be punished for publishing info that was obtained illegally, as long as the journalist didn’t do anything illegal

Assange is accused of helping the leaker to obtain the documents illegally, which is illegal.

I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what DOJ is charging him with.

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