Politics

Michael Moore promises to post bail for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Jeff Winkler Contributor
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UPDATE: Julian Assange has been granted bail, set at $308,000. Prosecutors are appealing but if bail goes through, Assange must also surrender his passport, has a curfew and wear a tracker, according to The Guardian.

The left’s favorite documentary filmmaker announced Tuesday that he has offered the British government a sizable sum to post bail for Julian Assange.

On his website, Michael Moore said he has put up $20,000 for the release of the WikiLeaks founder currently being detained by British officials over sexual assault allegations stemming from Sweden. The City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court last week denied bail for Assange, whom it deemed a flight risk. On Tuesday, lawyers for the controversial figure said they hope to convince the court to allow bail, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

UPDATE: Julian Assange has been granted bail. His has a curfew, tracking device, and surrendered his passport. A restaurant owner and friend of the WikiLeaks founder signed a court document

Moore is also offering WikiLeaks the use of his website, servers, domain names and “anything else I can do to keep WikiLeaks alive and thriving as it continues its work to expose the crimes that were concocted in secret and carried out in our name and with our tax dollars.”

For the writer and director of Fahrenheit 9/11, WikiLeaks and Assange are a much-needed force because ” the mainstream media has failed to live up to its responsibility.”

While the WikiLeaks document dump spans many years with thousands of the leaked cables less than two years old, the Democratic pundit and “anti-capitalist” frames his argument for transparency solely around the “corrupt” George W. Bush administration.

“Just imagine if the men who planned this war crime back in 2002 had had a WikiLeaks to deal with,” said Moore, who later continued, “I ask you to imagine how much different our world would be if WikiLeaks had existed 10 years ago.”

Both former Vice President Dick Cheney and President Bush are mentioned by name and Richard Nixon’s Vietnam actions are referenced. Moore’s call for more government transparency, however, appears to be relative.

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