Politically Motivated Deportations
May 26, 2026
Civil liberties defense group Defending Rights & Dissent has filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to compel the State Department, the FBI, the DOJ, and ICE to release critical files that will shed light on the
April 10, 2025
Washington, DC – Defending Rights & Dissent has launched a major new investigative project into the abuse of immigration process to retaliate against critics of Israel’s war in Gaza or supporters of the Palestinian people. As part of this project,
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
July 3, 2025
Yesterday, Defending Rights & Dissent filed two Freedom of Information Act requests to uncover details about the U.S. government’s relationship with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the shadowy private aid group that has been mired in controversy since announcing efforts to
WikiLeaks & Julian Assange
March 23, 2026
Defending Rights & Dissent Policy Director Chip Gibbons was in Berlin last week to address an international symposium on the impact and importance of WikiLeaks’ revelations. Gibbons joined Stella Assange, WikiLeaks’ Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou, and others
July 10, 2025
Status update: Defending Rights & Dissent v FBI Defending Rights & Dissent was in the District Court of District of Columbia today for a status update hearing this morning before Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan in our lawsuit to compel the FBI
September 20, 2024
On September 19, 2024 DRAD Policy Director Chip Gibbons joined The Dissenter Managing Editor Kevin Gosztola and Freedom of the Press Foundation Directory of Advocacy Seth Stern for an X Spaces discussion of DRAD’s FOIA lawsuit against the FBI. Last
September 12, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 12, 2024 Contact: Chip Gibbons, Policy Director, chip@rightsanddissent.org Defending Rights & Dissent Sues FBI For WikiLeaks and Assange Files Washington, DC – Defending Rights & Dissent filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit yesterday against
August 6, 2024
After 14 years, the US government’s long war against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange came to a close on June 24. After WikiLeaks exposed US war crimes thanks to documents given to them by Chelsea Manning, the US was ruthless in
July 3, 2024
On Monday, July 1, Defending Rights & Dissent and Assange Defense Committee hosted an online event, which can be viewed here. Matthew Hoh is a former Marine who resigned from the State Department in 2008 to protest the escalation of
April 12, 2024
On April 11, 2024, DRAD Policy Director Chip Gibbons joined Stefania Maurizi, Abby Martin, and Chris Hedges to mark five years of Julian Assange’s detention in Belmarsh Prison in the UK. On the grim anniversary, the panel of journalists reflected
March 27, 2024
On March 26, 2024, less than 12 hours after the UK High Court’s decision, Defending Rights & Dissent Policy Director Chip Gibbons joined an expert panel to deliver rapid-response analysis. The panel featured Chip alongside other First Amendment and human
March 26, 2024
On Tuesday March 26, 2024, the United Kingdom High Court of Justice granted Julian Assange a partial right to appeal his extradition to the US. For nearly five years, the United States has been seeking the WikiLeaks founder’s extradition to
February 28, 2024
On February 26, 2024, Defending Rights & Dissent convened a historic–and urgent–briefing on Capitol Hill on press freedom and the prosecution of Julian Assange. The briefing featured Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, Jodie Ginsberg, the CEO of Committee
February 23, 2024
On February 20th and 21st, 2024, thousands of people showed up to protest outside the high court in London where Julian Assange is fighting extradition to the US where he faces espionage charges. He could be weeks away from being
February 19, 2024
NOTE: This is an UPDATED post. The time for the livestream has been changed both days to 5 pm EST (they were originally scheduled for 1 pm EST) Day X for press freedom and Julian Assange is February 20 –
February 12, 2024
In a dramatic move, convicted WikiLeaks source Joshua Schulte was sentenced to 33 years and four months in prison for giving to WikiLeaks CIA hacking tools dubbed “Vault 7.” His sentence caught many in the press freedom community off guard.
November 21, 2023
On November 8, 2023, 16 members of Congress went on record for Assange: they sent a letter to President Joe Biden to withdraw the extradition request against Australian publisher Julian Assange and end the prosecutorial proceedings against him. Members of
June 8, 2023
The following statement can be attributed to Chip Gibbons, Policy Director, Defending Rights & Dissent: We are extremely disturbed by today’s decision by a UK High Court Judge to reject Julian Assange’s appeal against extradition to the US. Although we
June 7, 2023
On June 6, 2023, I reported on the FBI’s denial of our request for all files mentioning and referencing WikiLeaks, one of several FOIA requests related to WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange we have filed. Although the denial was not
June 6, 2023
On June 5, 2023, the FBI responded to our nearly two year-old request for all FBI records mentioning or referencing WikiLeaks. The FBI stated that they had located responsive records, but those files were “located in an investigative file which
April 12, 2023
Four years ago today, six men dragged Julian Assange out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London into a van, where he was carted off to Belmarsh Prison, where he remains, fighting extradition to the U.S. On April 11, 2019, after
December 8, 2022
“It is time for the Biden administration to break from the Trump administration’s decision to indict Assange – a move that was hostile to the media and democracy itself. Correcting the course is essential to protect journalists’ ability to report
November 28, 2022
Reprinted with permission from Chip Gibbons’ Substack Newsletter. Chip Gibbons retains all copyright. It was twelve years ago today that five international newspapers—The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, and El País—began working with WikiLeaks to publish the first stories based
November 4, 2022
In 2010, as an Army private serving in Iraq, Chelsea Manning released hundreds of thousands of classified records shining light on the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These files included the “Collateral Murder” video (which showed American soldiers gunning
October 14, 2022
If extradited, Julian Assange faces up to 175 years in prison under the Espionage Act – a draconian sentence intended to deter other journalists and truthtellers from revealing the long shadow of the American empire. On Saturday, October 8, DRAD
September 30, 2022
Did the CIA use a Spanish security firm known as UC Global to spy on WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange while toying with plans to assassinate or kidnap the Australian national? In spying on Assange, did the CIA and UC Global
June 17, 2022
On June 17, 2022, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange be extradited to the US. Assange is wanted by the US government for charges that include 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act for publishing
May 9, 2022
On Monday May 9, 2022, Defending Rights & Dissent urged UK Home Secretary to reject the US's extradition request for WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. As US-based NGO focused on the First Amendment, it is highly unusual for us to correspond with foreign governments. However, given the extraordinary nature of Assange’s case and its implications for press freedom not just in the US, but globally, we are compelled to do so.
Other FOIA Documents
July 28, 2025
Pursuant to an ongoing lawsuit brought under the Freedom of Information Act, Defending Rights & Dissent and the Brennan Center for Justice have obtained FBI guidance on the Bureau’s ability to monitor social media for counterintelligence and law enforcement purposes.
July 24, 2025
An investigation by Defending Rights & Dissent has revealed that the Department of Homeland Security distributed a “situational awareness bulletin” in advance of the release of the film How To Blow Up A Pipeline to law enforcement agencies across the
July 21, 2025
On the weekend of June 1, 2018, activists, academics, and writers gathered at John Jay College of Criminal Justice for the annual Left Forum conference. With roots in the Socialists Scholars Conference, Left Forum was regularly one of the largest
September 14, 2024
When the National Guard proposed expanding the Camp Grayling base into more than 150,000 acres of Department of Natural Resources land, a small but dedicated movement rose up. Under the moniker Stop Camp Grayling, activists staged protests, held weeks of
March 6, 2024
In 2023, Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) opened a lawsuit against named protesters John Does, Appalachians Against Pipelines, and Rising Tide. The pipeline asked for an injunction against protest and $4 million in damages. Contained in this project are (some) court