Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Trump's administration has prosecuted whistleblowers more aggressively than any other in US history, Assange trial hears
US President Donald Trump gestures while speaking during a news conference at the White House

DONALD TRUMP’S administration has prosecuted national security leaks more aggressively than any presidency in US history, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition hearing was told today.

Lawyer and historian Carey Shenkman said that the US President is on track to exceed the number of Espionage Act cases brought under Barack Obama’s two terms in less than four years.

Assange, 49, is fighting extradition to the US to face 17 charges under the 1917 law, as well as an 18th charge alleging he plotted to hack computers.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Staff lay a carpet on the tarmac before President Donald Trump exits Air Force One upon arriving for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Press Freedom / 12 July 2026
12 July 2026

US Justice Department says the ‘reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are’. But media freedom advocates warn that Trump's ‘war on the press is looking for another victim’

PJ Harvey performing on the Pyramid stage, at the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset. Picture date: Friday June 28, 2024
Media / 23 December 2025
23 December 2025

On January 2 2014, PJ Harvey used her turn as guest editor of the Today programme to expose the realities of war, arms dealing and media complicity. The fury that followed showed how rare – and how threatening – such honesty is within Britain’s most Establishment broadcaster, says IAN SINCLAIR

A vendor sells local newspapers with headlines referring to US President Donald Trump's comments about Nigeria, on the street of Lagos, Nigeria, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025
Maga Diplomacy / 10 November 2025
10 November 2025

Nigeria’s presidential spokesman grovels to the West in response to Washington intimidation, writes PAVAN KULKARNI

A protester dressed in a costume watches as Department of Homeland Security officers detain a protester outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Portland, Ore
United States / 17 October 2025
17 October 2025

From terrifying the children of immigrants to pepper-spraying frogs, the US under Trump is rapidly descending into mayhem, writes Linda Pentz Gunter