Michael Moore Helps Bail Out WikiLeaks Mastermind

Roger & Me director goes to bat for Julian Assange

By Josh Grossberg Dec 14, 2010 8:08 PMTags
Michael Moore, Julian AssangeKevin Mazur/WireImage; Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

We have the title for Michael Moore's next film: Julian & Me.

The firebrand filmmaker has ponied up $20,000 to help bail WikiLeaks cofounder Julian Assange out of a British jail, where he's currently being held on sex charges.

So what's the Fahrenheit 9/11 director's angle in all of this?

Noting that WikiLeaks has saved lives, Moore confirmed that he joined a number of celebrities—includingacclaimed filmmaker Ken Loach—in vouching for Assange and coming up with the dough.

A judge in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London granted the 39-year-old Assange his freedom on strict bail conditions and a total of $315,000 bond Tuesday. All this after he spent more than a week in prison, when Scotland Yard complied with an international arrest warrant issued by Sweden.

"I'm posting bail money for J Assange today. I wont [sic] stand by and be a witness to a railroading," Moore tweeted.

The lefty polemicist added on his blog that lawyers for the government provocateur showed the judge a letter from him stating that he would back the bond.

"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," wrote Moore.

After asserting that if WikiLeaks existed in 2002, the United States might not have gone to war in Iraq, Moore then listed a number of politicians who have launched "vicious attacks" against the former hacker. Among those were Sarah Palin, who claimed Assange has "blood on his hands" and should be hunted down "with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders." Also called out was Republican Rep. Peter King, who has called WikiLeaks "a terrorist organization."

"I support Julian, whom I see as a pioneer of free speech, transparent government and the digital revolution in journalism," Moore declared in his missive to the court.

As for the alleged sex crimes committed by Asssange, for which Interpol issued an arrest warrant and UK authorities have taken the unusual step of deying Assange bail, Moore asks that people not "be so naïve about how the government works when it decides to go after its prey" and not to buy the "official story."

Perhaps Michael would like to offer up the alternative narrative?

Assange won't be getting out of jail just yet however. Since Swedish prosecutors have appealed the bail decision, he'll have remain in custody until a ruling is made which could take up to two days.

No doubt, that will keep SNL writers busy.