Federal prosecutors are pursuing a deal to allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to avoid espionage charges and instead plead guilty to the crime of mishandling classified data. THE Wall Street Journal First reported about talks between American authorities and Assange’s lawyers on Wednesday. The independent outlet News about the Consortium Then confirmed that he had learned the same details “off the record” several months ago.
Assange has been detained in Britain for five years awaiting extradition magazine he reported that he “would likely be free to leave prison shortly after any deal was made” due to time served.
Even if the deal isn’t done, the proposal is good news for the First Amendment because it avoids setting a precedent that would allow the U.S. government to treat journalists like spies.
According to Attorney General Merrick Garland has yet to sign any agreement magazine. And Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, told it News about the Consortium that Assange is dead set against signing an agreement that would require him to come to the United States, due to concerns that the American government might change the terms at the last minute.
After the news broke, Assange’s lawyer Barry J. Pollack declared, “We have been given no indication that the Department of Justice intends to settle this case.” Pollack did not deny that negotiations were ongoing and accusing the other side of being less than serious could be a negotiating tactic.
But both sides have a strong incentive to avoid trial. In addition to saving Assange from a significant prison sentence, a plea deal could allow the Biden administration to wriggle out of a self-inflicted political conundrum.
WikiLeaks became a thorn in the side of the US government in the early 2010s when it published classified data provided by former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, including a database of US diplomatic cables and a video of a US Army helicopter shooting down a television crew in Iraq.
The Obama administration prosecuted Manning but decided not to prosecute Assange due to the “New York Times problem.” Even though WikiLeaks is not a traditional newspaper, its activities are not that different from one THE New York Times and other newspapers, which often publish stories based on leaked classified information.
In fact, Assange collaborated with Times, The Guardian, and other international outlets for the “Cablegate” leaks. When the Trump administration finally decided to prosecute Assange for espionage in 2019, the Times editorial board he called the case a weapon “aimed directly at the heart of the First Amendment.”
Because of the Assange case, a bipartisan group in Congress is pushing for a law to this effect review the espionage law completely.
With a plea deal on misdemeanor charges, prosecutors could avoid a clash over the Espionage Act and the First Amendment without giving the impression that the Biden administration has backed down. As the magazine to put it this way, putting Assange on trial would “throw a political hot potato into the lap of the Biden administration.”