Julian Assange - Reuters Now that the Ecuadorian government has thrown Julian Assange out of its London Embassy, he faces extradition to the U.S. To smooth the extradition process, U.S. prosecutors charged Assange with conspiring to help Chelsea Manning hack into government computers. While this charge may make extradition easier, it may still take up to two or three years and is not certain.
Assange may have faced other charges tied more closely to Russian interference in the 2016 election. Besides complicating extradition, however, government lawyers believe that if they eventually try Assange on an espionage charge, they would also have to charge newspapers that published the information. Government lawyers are unwilling to open that can of worms.
But the inability to charge Assange with espionage also shows the problem with establishing enough evidence to bring conspiracy charges against anyone in the Trump inner circle. Without being able to link Assange to Russia, the nexus of the conspiracy against the U.S., tying the Trump inner circle becomes harder. Nonetheless, it is illuminating to note that every U.S. intelligence official, including Mike Pompeo when he was the Director of the CIA, believes Assange to be a Russian asset or agent.
Assange may have faced other charges tied more closely to Russian interference in the 2016 election. Besides complicating extradition, however, government lawyers believe that if they eventually try Assange on an espionage charge, they would also have to charge newspapers that published the information. Government lawyers are unwilling to open that can of worms.
But the inability to charge Assange with espionage also shows the problem with establishing enough evidence to bring conspiracy charges against anyone in the Trump inner circle. Without being able to link Assange to Russia, the nexus of the conspiracy against the U.S., tying the Trump inner circle becomes harder. Nonetheless, it is illuminating to note that every U.S. intelligence official, including Mike Pompeo when he was the Director of the CIA, believes Assange to be a Russian asset or agent.
Politico.com. Shafer. Julian Assange Might Have Already Won
https://politi.co/2X5E0Wj
https://politi.co/2X5E0Wj
The Washington Post: Horwitz: Julian Assange Unlikely to Face U.S. charges over Publishing Classified Documents
https://wapo.st/2Xbyulh
https://wapo.st/2Xbyulh
