Michael Moore Gives $20K Toward Julian Assange's Bail

Filmmaker Michael Moore is throwing his weight behind a new cause, donating $20,000 to the bail fund for jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The 'Capitalism: A Love Story' director took to the Huffington Post to explain his support of Assange, who is currently being held in custody after turning himself in to London's Metropolitan Police Service on December 7th. An arrest warrant was issued for Assange based on allegations that he committed a number of sex crimes in Sweden, charges Assange claimed were part of an attempt to defame him.

Moore writes, "For those of you who think it's wrong to support Julian Assange because of the sexual assault allegations he's being held for, all I ask is that you not be naive about how the government works when it decides to go after its prey. Please -- never, ever believe the "official story." And regardless of Assange's guilt or innocence... this man has the right to have bail posted and to defend himself. I have joined with filmmakers Ken Loach and John Pilger and writer Jemima Khan in putting up the bail money -- and we hope the judge will accept this and grant his release today."
Assange, whose whistleblowing has been criticized by government officials and civilians alike, is praised by Moore, who says, "WikiLeaks deserves our thanks for shining a huge spotlight on all this... WikiLeaks exists, in part, because the mainstream media has failed to live up to its responsibility."

In addition to his monetary donation, Moore writes, "I am publicly offering the assistance of my website, my servers, my 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."

Moore asserts that had WikiLeaks been founded earlier, it could have played an essential role in making the world a safer place. Moore claims that classified FBI intelligence obtained by former President Bush prior to the September 11th attacks could have prevented them.

"If that document had been leaked, how would you or I have reacted?" he writes. "What would Congress or the FAA have done? Was there not a greater chance that someone, somewhere would have done something if all of us knew about bin Laden's impending attack using hijacked planes?"

Should Assange's release be granted, Moore believes that he can continue to provide an invaluable service to the world at large. "Openness, transparency -- these are among the few weapons the citizenry has to protect itself from the powerful and the corrupt... No one can hide from the truth now. No one can plot the next Big Lie."

Filed under: Highbrow - Troublemakers Tags: michael moore
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