WikiLeaks fundraising organization hires law firm to lobby US DOJ on ‘First Amendment issues’ News
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WikiLeaks fundraising organization hires law firm to lobby US DOJ on ‘First Amendment issues’

The Wau Holland Foundation, a WikiLeaks fundraising organization, filed an LD-2 disclosure form on Friday showing that it hired the law firm Squire Patton Boggs to lobby the US Department of Justice on behalf of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The form states that Wau Holland engaged Squire Patton Boggs to lobby “First Amendment issues related to the publication by journalists of classified information.”

This comes after Attorney General Merrick Garland announced revisions in October 2022 to the DOJ’s regulations regarding obtaining information from members of the news media. The revisions are meant to provide more protections for members of the news media from law enforcement. The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 requires LD-2 disclosure forms for lobbyists. The law is a comprehensive reporting and disclosure structure for lobbyists.

Assange is currently in prison in the UK after his 2019 arrest under a US warrant. Assange currently faces extradition to the US where 18 counts of illegally obtaining, receiving and disclosing classified information await him. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the extradition in June and Assange is in the midst of appealing this order. If Assange’s appeal to stay fails, the 51-year-old Australian could serve up to 175 years in US federal prison.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.