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President Biden said Wednesday that his administration is mulling whether to end the prosecution of Julian Assange, the controversial WikiLeaks founder who is facing criminal charges for publishing thousands of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables.
Australia has been pressing the U.S. to end the case and in recent months ramped up the pressure on Washington and London to return the Australian citizen to his home country.
“We’re considering it,” Mr. Biden told reporters at the White House when asked about Australia’s request.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the Justice Department is looking to wrap up what has been an extraordinarily long court battle against Mr. Assange that began in 2010, after he published thousands of classified documents related to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
Mr. Assange has been in a London prison since 2019 after U.S. prosecutors, under the Trump administration, filed espionage charges against him. He then launched a long-running legal battle against the British government to avoid being extradited to the U.S.
His legal team and Justice Department officials have entered discussions recently about a possible plea deal to end the drama, the Journal reported. Mr. Assange has already spent five years behind bars and it seems unlikely he would serve much more prison time if he were convicted in the U.S.
Barry Pollack, an attorney for Mr. Assange, has said publicly he’s unsure if his client would take the deal.
Britain’s highest court is currently weighing whether to grant a further right to appeal his extradition to the U.S. If the court blocks his appeal, the Justice Department would have 28 days to collect him to face trial.
Mr. Assange faces 18 counts of conspiring to disclose classified information and hack a military computer in relation to WikiLeaks releases, all counts brought under a U.S. espionage law.
His lawyers say he is a journalist who published information given to him, and he shouldn’t face punishment because his actions are protected by the First Amendment.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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