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I wish the US had offered whistleblowers reasonable plea deals and they had taken them. Unfortunately that's not the world we live(d) in. The US pursued a polic
by wmf 2y ago
I wish the US had offered whistleblowers reasonable plea deals and they had taken them. Unfortunately that's not the world we live(d) in. The US pursued a policy of vindictive and extralegal punishment against "enemy combatants" that made a lot of people doubt whether they could get fair treatment.
- impossiblefork 2y agoPlea deals aren't a solution. No matter how reasonable. This agreement itself is a plea deal, but involves the agreement in principle that Assange has committed a crime by publishing this information. That in itself is an enormous problem for people seeking out government wrongdoing.
- wmf 2y agoYeah, it's not at all clear to me that Assange did anything illegal and if he was offered a deal 12 years ago he probably would have rejected it. But Snowden and Manning definitely broke the law and I don't think it's a good look for anyone involved to have Snowden being a fugitive and cause celebre in exile for life.