Ocasio-Cortez, Greene among lawmakers urging Biden to drop Assange extradition, prosecution

A group of lawmakers including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called on President Biden to drop the extradition and prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

“As members of Congress deeply committed to the principles of free speech and freedom of the press, we write to strongly encourage your Administration to withdraw the U.S. extradition request currently pending against Australian publisher Julian Assange and halt all prosecutorial proceedings against him as soon as possible,” a letter dated Wednesday by the group reads.

The group of lawmakers also includes Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Rep, Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

The unity of the far-right and far-left lawmakers in the letter is notable, as many in the group have traded barbs with each other during their time in Congress. In the same week as the letter regarding Assange, Greene was a leader in the effort to censure Tlaib for her recent anti-Israel statements. 

The WikiLeaks founder was arrested in 2019 in the U.K. on a U.S. warrant and has been fighting in British court to try and avoid being extradited to the U.S. to face charges.

The Wednesday letter follows another letter by Tlaib, Pressley, Bowman, Ocasio-Cortez, Casar and Omar in April urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to drop the charges against Assange. 

“Press freedom, civil liberty, and human rights groups have been emphatic that the charges against Mr. Assange pose a grave and unprecedented threat to everyday, constitutionally protected journalistic activity, and that a conviction would represent a landmark setback for the First Amendment,” that group wrote at the time.