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A quick request: If my book has arrived and you’re enjoying it, please give it a review. If you are not, well, please do not, I suppose.
And some news: The Intercept is proud to partner on the Belmarsh Tribunal at the National Press Club this coming Saturday, December 9, 2023.
Inspired by the Russell-Sartre Tribunal of the Vietnam War, the Belmarsh Tribunal brings together a range of expert witnesses to call for the release of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange as his potential extradition from the U.K. to the U.S. reaches its denouement, with his final U.K. court hearing expected in early 2024.
This D.C. sitting of the Tribunal will be co-chaired by Amy Goodman, the host of “Democracy Now!”, and by me. It’ll be livestreamed, and details are below.
Members of the D.C. sitting of the Tribunal include Marjorie Cohn, professor of law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and former president of the National Lawyers Guild; Michael Sontheimer, journalist and historian (formerly Der Spiegel); Mark Feldstein, investigative correspondent and chair of journalism at the University of Maryland; Trevor Timm, co-founder of Freedom of the Press Foundation; John Kiriakou, former CIA intelligence officer; Rebecca Vincent, Reporters Without Borders; Ewen MacAskill, journalist and intelligence correspondent (formerly Guardian); Ben Wizner, lawyer and civil liberties advocate with the American Civil Liberties Union; Maja Sever, president of European Federation of Journalists; Ece Temelkuran, author; Lina Attalah, co-founder and chief editor of Mada Masr, 2020 Knight International Journalism Award recipient; Sevim Dagdelen, member of the German Bundestag; and Abby Martin, journalist.
The Intercept invites you to book your place to attend in person or follow the proceedings online by visiting https://act.progressive.international/belmarsh.
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
Contact the author:
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