Our country cannot function without a diligent free press that provides the American people with the access to information and education they need to hold their elected officials accountable. Indeed, to limit that ability is a far greater threat to national security than anything leaked by Chelsea Manning or published by Julian Assange.

In 2017, as Julian Assange began his fifth year holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London, the CIA plotted to kidnap the WikiLeaks founder, spurring heated debate among Trump administration officials over the legality and practicality of such an operation.