Should presidential candidates pledge to free Assange?

Washington, DC

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a hero to libertarians. As is Ross Ulbricht, the founder of now-defunct Silk Road, an internet marketplace where you could buy lots of shady things. Where some see traitors and criminals, many libertarians see truth-seeking rebels, courageously engaged in a war against Big Government, defying unjust mandates. This was particularly apparent at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention in Washington, DC, this weekend.

In an email sent to press by organizers, “Free Ross Ulbricht” and “Free Julian Assange” were ranked the top topics for Donald Trump’s speech Saturday — over “End the Fed” and other popular slogans.

Wearing a “Free Assange” white T-shirt, Assange’s half-brother Gabriel Shipton led a luncheon at the Washington Hilton. When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. addressed the audience, a controversial move opposed by some party members, it was his defense of Assange’s cause — and similar ones, including that of NSA documents-leaker Edward Snowden — that most riled up the crowd. When Trump spoke, in the midst of lots of boos and a few “fuck you”s, it was his pledge to commute the sentence of Ulbricht that earned him the most applause.

Challenging Donald Trump and Joe Biden, who have both refused to vocally express their desire to free Assange, Kennedy said, “Assange should be celebrated as a hero. He did exactly what journalists are supposed to do, which is to expose government corruption. We shouldn’t put him in prison; we should have a monument to him here in Washington, DC.”

“The same is true of Edward Snowden. He’s a hero, not a criminal,” Kennedy added. “I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to do what President Trump should have done. On my first day in office, I’m going to pardon Edward Snowden and I’m going to drop charges — all charges — against Julian Assange.”

Kennedy has previously said that he’d look into Ulbricht’s case, but Trump’s promise yesterday has been the most vocally supportive of that particular cause. Kennedy’s consistent defense of the likes of Assange and Snowden, though, make him comparatively more appealing to a vast portion of the people at the event. Some of the leaders here hate Trump, including presidential hopeful Chase Oliver, who told The Spectator, “This is probably the first time we’ve had a war criminal on our stage.”

The Spectator asked Shipton, Assange’s half-brother, about updates regarding the WikiLeaks founder’s situation, considering his recent win in the UK’s courts (he can now bring a new appeal against extradition to the US). He started by saying that his brother “should be free, where he ends up? Who knows?”

“I think the Australian government has been advocating for him very strongly with the United States and the UK,” Shipton continued. “He has an incredible amount of support in Australia. Two thirds of the parliament actually voted on a resolution calling on the UK and the US to let him go.

“So I think that Australia is the ideal place for him. You know, that’s his home [he grew up there]. That’s where he should live, maybe on a farm or something up in the hills or countryside where he can take it easy.

When asked about the possibility of him being sent to the US, Shipton said, “If he gets sent here it’s all over. It’s all over.”

On the candidates, Shipton said that RFK Jr. has been a strong candidate, “a very great advocate for Julian.” Trump? Not so much, though he said that he has made “some statements in the past six months.”

“[Donald Trump Jr.] has said that he’s changed his mind about Julian and that what Julian did, he now sees as protected speech, so I think there’s a little bit of movement,” Shipton added.

Regarding Biden, Shipton said that when the president was asked last month “if he’s considering the Australian request to drop the charges against Julian, he said yes.”

“Between these different [sic], actually, Trump is the only one who hasn’t come out and said that he’ll drop the charges or is considering anything,” Shipton said. “So I’d like to see Trump come out and make a commitment that he’ll drop this prosecution because it was during his administration that this indictment came down. It was actually Mike Pompeo who was the main spokesperson for this indictment.”

Cases like this one, as evidenced by convention surveys, are of extreme relevance for libertarians (and many others). Appealing to these voters makes sense, which is why Trump made a promise regarding a case that may broadly seem like an issue one is safer not touching. Still, despite the smart politics, at that convention, Trump faced the toughest crowd in months, if not ever. The ones watching clips online, not spending hundreds to head to a DC convention, will have a different reaction.