The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached a plea deal with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is accused of violating U.S. espionage laws. According to reports, Assange is expected to plead guilty to one count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defense documents. Under the plea agreement, Assange will be sentenced to 62 months of time already served, and will be released after the hearing.
On April 5, 2010, WikiLeaks released classified U.S. military video — titled “Collateral Murder,” showing a U.S. Army Apache helicopter killing at least 18 people, including two Reuters journalists on July 12, 2007. After the release by WikiLeaks, Assange was under investigation by the DOJ for more than seven years before being indicted, with former Attorney General Eric Holder stating in 2010 Assange was under criminal investigation: “We are aware of the incidents … and I’ll simply say we’re looking into them.”
In 2017, Assange was secretly indicted by the DOJ under former President Donald Trump, followed by a superseding 18-count indictment by a Virginia grand jury alleging the release of the classified information by Assange and Bradley “Chelsea” Manning, who allegedly acted “to subvert lawful restrictions on classified information and to publicly disseminate it,” in violation of the Espionage Act of 1917.
In December 2023, 13 members of Congress introduced a bipartisan resolution calling on the DOJ to “drop all charges against and attempts to extradite” Assange, with two of the cosponsors responding to the news of the plea deal.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) celebrated the news, stating on X:
AMAZING NEWS! Julian Assange is set to be released after being held for years for the crime of committing journalism. Praise God for setting Julian FREE!! #FreeAssange
Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said Assange being released is great news, but said President Biden, along with former Presidents Obama and Trump, should not have pursued the prosecution of Assange in the first place, stating on X:
My plane landed in DC & I just heard Julian Assange will soon be free due to a deal. His liberation is great news, but it’s a travesty that he’s already spent so much time in jail. Obama, Trump, & Biden should have never pursued this prosecution. Pardon Snowden & Free Ross now
