US
Will Seek the Arrest of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange - Report
US
officials have told CNN that they have prepared charges against
Assange.
20
April, 2017
The
move follows CIA Director Mike Pompeo's recent speech stating that
First Amendment protections did not apply to Assange, and that
WikiLeaks was a "non-state intelligence service." "Julian
Assange has no First Amendment freedoms," Pompeo said.
According
to the CNN report, prosecutors believe they have found a way to
charge Assange without violating First Amendment protections. On
Thursday, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Assange's detention
was a "priority."
"We've
already begun to step up our effort and whenever a case can be made,
we will seek to put some people in jail," Sessions noted.
The
Washington Post reports that prosecutors have been crafting a memo
envisioning charges against WikiLeaks staff that could include
conspiracy, theft of government property or violations of the
Espionage Act. Officials told them that the memo is not yet complete
and that approval would be needed at the highest levels of US justice
to bring charges to bear.
On
April 13, Pompeo launched a public assault on WikiLeaks, Assange,
Edward Snowden and even the Intercept. During the speech, Pompeo
tried to associate Assange with German Nazis, stating "Assange
and his ilk make common cause with dictators today." Less than
one year before his comments, Pompeo tweeted from his Congressional
Twitter account a link to documents published by WikiLeaks.
Tweet sent by CIA Director Mike Pompeo on 24 July 2016 http://archive.is/p0ij6
Assange
defended himself and WikiLeaks as an award-winning news outlet,
pointing out that the CIA might better spend its time and energy
focusing on foreign espionage threats posed by China and North Korea.
Assange
is currently in London at the Ecuadorian embassy.
According
to Assange's legal counsel, "there's no reason why WikiLeaks
should be treated differently from any other publisher."
On
the campaign trail, Trump famously proclaimed, "I love
WikiLeaks!"
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