[EL] WikiLeaks and Press Exemption

[Kogan, Vladimir]

Hi Rick,

I have a question about this paragraph in your Slate column:

"So why did Mueller not charge Stone with violating campaign finance laws along with the other charges in the indictment? We don't know for sure, but there are a few possibilities. ... One possibility is that because WikiLeaks might count as a "news organization," different campaign finance rules should apply. For example, one can imagine a presidential campaign official seeking out information with reporters from a foreign newspaper like the Guardian. We treat journalists differently for a number of campaign finance purposes, and it might be that WikiLeaks is shielded in a way that other foreign entities are not. Indeed, Glenn Greenwald and Trevor Timm, writing at the Intercept, attacked the DNC for suing WikiLeaks over the hack of DNC emails, arguing that such a suit interferes with the press's freedom to cover leaked information."

I'm curious how to square that with the Karen McDougal/National Inquirer issue. Presumably David Pecker was worried enough about his exposure that he entered into a cooperation agreement.

The argument for why the National Inquirer did not qualify for a press exemption, as far as I understand it, was that working with a campaign to "catch and kill" a story is not part of their "ordinary business operation." Yet, why would WikiLeaks get the press exemption for (allegedly) working with a campaign for facilitating the hacking and release of a rival candidate's e-mails? Is it because hacking and releasing private e-mails is part of their "ordinary business operation?"

If so, that seems like a strange outcome. A tabloid that normally prints salacious gossip loses its press exemption when it doesn't do so to help a candidate it supports. Yet WikiLeaks doesn't lose its press exemption when it works with a campaign to help the same candidate in other ways?

I'm just curious to hear the full argument, from you or others. (I realize this was just one possibility you suggested was possible; you didn't definitely argue this was the case.)

Thanks,

Vlad

[The Ohio State University]
Vladimir Kogan, Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
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