Ocasio-Cortez, Greene make odd bedfellows in demanding Biden to drop Assange prosecution

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., are making odd bedfellows as both have joined a group of lawmakers demanding President Joe Biden drop the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

"It is the duty of journalists to seek out sources, including documentary evidence, in order to report to the public on the activities of government," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Biden last week. "The United States must not pursue an unnecessary prosecution that risks criminalizing common journalistic practices and thus chilling the work of the free press."

Other lawmakers who signed the letter include Republican Reps. Thomas Massie, Eric Burlison, Paul Gosar, Matt Rosendale and Sen. Rand Paul, as well as Democratic Reps. Jim McGovern, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Pramila Jayapal, Greg Casar, Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman and Jesús "Chuy" Garcia.

The hard-left and hard-right unity on the matter is notable, as many in the group have vocally disagreed with each other in Congress. For example, in the same week that the lawmakers sent the Assange letter to Biden, Greene led an effort to censure Tlaib for her comments about Israel. 

Massie and McGovern led the effort to get lawmakers to sign on the letter starting last month.

Assange faces multiple Espionage Act charges related to the publishing of classified documents. He has been detained in London since 2019 and has been fighting extradition to the United States ever since. 

Follow Madeleine Hubbard on X or Instagram.