Our government does not have clean hands

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, December 5, 2018

In addition to the First Amendment arguments that support Julian Assange’s innocence, there are two more:

1. Every citizen has a right and a duty to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. This right and duty should be held above all other rights and freedoms reserved for the people under Amendment 10. What’s my evidence? Every elected official, attorney, judge, soldier, police officer and a great many others must take an oath of office stating that they, to the best of their ability, will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. In addition to those named above, every foreign-born person must first take that same oath in order to become a citizen. Since our founding fathers never intended that the rights and responsibilities of foreign-born citizens should be more stringent than those for native-born citizens, one can only conclude that every citizen has that same right and duty.

2. There is a doctrine of law, the “clean hands doctrine,” which states that a defendant has the right to claim in his own defense, that the plaintiff is entitled to a remedy if and only if that plaintiff is innocent of any wrongdoing or unfair conduct (in other words, has “clean hands”) in the matter before a court.

Julian Assange, as a journalist, published documents demonstrating that many members of our government had violated their solemn oath of office — were active and continue to be active in undermining our Constitution. Our government “does not have clean hands” in prosecuting anyone in these matters. To the contrary, Assange supported all of us in preserving our right and duty to defend ourselves. It is members of the government who need to be prosecuted. Assange is a friend and hero for his courageous journalism in helping keep America safe and free.

— Mark Goldman