Stella Moris, the wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, suggested that her husband would kill himself if he is extradited to the United States after the British Home secretary approved a judge’s order to fly Assange from the maximum-security Belmarsh Prison in London to Virginia to stand trial.
British Home Secretary Pristi Patel approved the order on Thursday; paving the way for Assange, a native Australian, to stand trial on espionage charges.
“If he&#8217;s extradited to the U.S., the conditions he will be under will be oppressive,” Stella Moris told a press conference Friday. “It will drive him to take his own life. That&#8217;s not simply a regular discussion about mental health. We are talking about driving a person to take their own life.”
American officials have informed the British government that Assange will not be held in maximum security if he is extradited.
Moris said Assange’s declaration that he would kill himself was made “recently,” adding that she would fight the order with “every available avenue. &#8230; I&#8217;m going to use every waking hour fighting for Julian until he is free,” <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10926609/Priti-Patel-signs-order-extradite-Julian-Assange-face-espionage-charges.html">The Daily Mail</a> reported.
“We are not at the end of the road here,” Moris insisted. “We are going to fight this. We are going to use every available avenue. I&#8217;m going to use every waking hour fighting for Julian until he is free, until justice is served. &#8230; we have the conviction that this wrong will be righted and the courts will, eventually, do the right thing.”
Moris said Assange’s latest appeal, which he has 14 days to file, would offer evidence that the CIA allegedly tried to kill him with poison when he took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he spent seven years hiding starting in 2012.
In May, the British Supreme Court denied Assange permission to appeal his extradition to the U.S.
Assange has been accused of aiding U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack a classified government computer and steal classified diplomatic cables and military files which WikiLeaks published; in 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison; the sentence was <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-obama-commutes-bulk-chelsea-mannings-35-year/story?id=44837319">commuted</a> by former President Barack Obama in 2017.
“The Obama administration was forced to rush to safety foreign friends whom Manning had outed as helping Americans,” <a href="applewebdata://D47854CA-EC3C-47C2-ABA3-2462EFA55273/v">National Review</a> noted in 2017. “He broke faith with every relevant provision of the Army’s warrior ethos — he abandoned his mission, he actively aided the enemy, and he acted with stunning disregard for the lives of his comrades.”
Assange also is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents regarding the United States’ wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Under the Extradition Act 2003, the Secretary of State must sign an extradition order if there are no grounds to prohibit the order being made,” a spokesman for the British Home Office stated.
“Extradition requests are only sent to the Home Secretary once a judge decides it can proceed after considering various aspects of the case,” their spokesman continued. “On June 17, following consideration by both the Magistrates Court and High Court, the extradition of Mr. Julian Assange to the U.S. was ordered. Mr. Assange retains the normal 14-day right to appeal. In this case, the UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr. Assange.”
“Anyone in this country who cares about freedom of expression should be deeply ashamed that the Home Secretary has approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, the country that plotted his assassination,” WikiLeaks charged. “Julian did nothing wrong. He has committed no crime and is not a criminal. He is a journalist and a publisher, and he is being punished for doing his job. It was in Priti Patel&#8217;s power to do the right thing. Instead she will forever be remembered as an accomplice of the United States in its agenda to turn investigative journalism into a criminal enterprise.”

Assange Supporters Gather At Belmarsh Prison As He Weds Partner

Julian Assange’s Wife Says He’ll Kill Himself After Brits Approve Extradition To America

Chelsea Manning

Espionage

Great Britain

Julian Assange

WikiLeaks

Julian Assange, the controversial founder of Wikileaks, can be extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States, according to a High Court ruling in the UK. 
“The US won its appeal against a January UK court ruling that he could not be extradited due to concerns over his mental health,” reported <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-59608641">BBC News</a>, with Judge Timothy Holroyde saying that the court “allows the appeal.”
“Judges were reassured by US promises to reduce the risk of suicide,&#8221; the BBC added.
“The background to the request for Mr Assange’s extradition is well-known,” according to <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/USA-v-Assange-judgment101221.pdf">court documents</a>. “He is a founder of the Wikileaks website. He has been indicted in the USA on 18 counts connected with obtaining and disclosing defence and national security material through the website, primarily in 2009 and 2010 but also to some extent since.”
The U.S.-based charges were summarized as follows:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">His complicity in illegal acts to obtain or receive voluminous databases of classified information;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">His agreement and attempt to obtain classified information through computer hacking; and </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">His publishing certain classified documents that contained the unredacted names of innocent people who risked their safety and freedom to provide information to the United States and its allies, including local Afghans and Iraqis, journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates, and political dissidents from repressive regimes.” </li>
</ul>
Assange can now be extradited to the United States to face Espionage Act charges, which carry significant jail time.
“Mr. Assange fled into the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2012 when he was facing an investigation on allegations of sexual assault in Sweden, which were eventually dropped. He said he feared his human rights would be violated if he was extradited in that case,” explained <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/10/world/europe/uk-julian-assange-extradition.html">The New York Times</a>. “He remained in the embassy for seven years until he was ejected in 2019. The United States unsealed an indictment against him on hacking charges on the day of his expulsion, and then charged him under the Espionage Act weeks later. He has been detained in London’s Belmarsh prison since 2019.”
“Assange, who was not permitted to attend the hearing in person, is wanted by U.S. authorities over the publication of hundreds of thousands of classified military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010 and 2011,” <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/us-wins-appeal-over-extradition-of-wikileaks-founder-assange.html">CNBC</a> reported. “They say his actions put lives in danger and they accuse him of 18 counts, meaning he faces a 175-year prison sentence.”
Stella Morris, Julian Assange’s fiancée, said that they would appeal this decision “at the earliest possible moment.”
She described the High Court’s ruling as “dangerous and misguided” and a “grave miscarriage of justice.”
“How can it be fair, how can it be right, how can it be possible, to extradite Julian to the very country which plotted to kill him?” Morris added.
<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/petition/julian-assange-usa-justice/">Amnesty International</a> has called for the U.S. to drop these charges against Assange.
“Authorities in the USA must drop the espionage and all other charges against Julian Assange that relate to his publishing activities as part of his work with Wikileaks,” Amnesty International stated. “The US government’s unrelenting pursuit of Julian Assange for having published disclosed documents that included possible war crimes committed by the US military is nothing short of a full-scale assault on the right to freedom of expression.”

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Can Be Extradited To The U.S., British Court Rules

A British judge ruled Monday that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will not be extradited to the United States to face trial on charges that he engaged in espionage and deliberately published documents designed to undermine and imperil the American military.
The judge did not allow Assange to go free, however. A decision on that will likely come on Wednesday when Assange has a bail hearing.
&#8220;In a mixed ruling for Assange and his supporters, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected defense arguments that the 49-year-old Australian faces a politically motivated American prosecution that rides roughshod over free-speech protections,&#8221; the Associated Press reported. &#8220;But she said Assange’s precarious mental health would likely deteriorate further under the conditions of &#8216;near-total isolation&#8217; he would face in a U.S. prison.&#8221;
Assange has repeatedly said that he will commit suicide if held in solitary confinement in an American prison, something likely to happen given that he is a high-value prisoner. His defense also presented evidence that he suffers from severe depression and some form of Autism Spectrum Disorder &#8212; conditions that might cause him to deteriorate mentally and emotionally.
The United States has charged Assange with 17 counts of espionage and one count of &#8220;computer misuse&#8221; stemming from his involvement with Chelsea Manning&#8217;s (then Bradley Manning) efforts to leak classified documents and video about American military operations in Iraq. According to the U.S. government, Manning was unable to break into some of the military&#8217;s secure files and Assange provided Manning with advice, making him culpable in Manning&#8217;s own espionage.
Manning was convicted of leaking classified government documents and sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison. President Barack Obama commuted Manning&#8217;s sentence before he left office in 2017 though he did not issue a full pardon.
Assange was arrested back in April of 2019 and, since then, has been held in a British prison awaiting news of whether he would be sent to the United States to stand trial, and face a maximum sentence of 175 years.
Monday&#8217;s ruling, keeping Assange in the UK, though, is just a partial victory. The judge did not make a ruling on whether Assange&#8217;s actions, as the founder of Wikileaks, were protected as &#8220;reporting&#8221; or &#8220;publishing&#8221; or whether Assange would be able to use the First Amendment as a defense to the espionage charges.
“While we are extremely disappointed in the court’s ultimate decision, we are gratified that the United States prevailed on every point of law raised,” the U.S. government said in a statement, recognizing the partial victory. “In particular, the court rejected all of Mr. Assange’s arguments regarding political motivation, political offense, fair trial, and freedom of speech.”
&#8220;Lawyers for the U.S. government said they would appeal the decision, and the U.S. Department of Justice said it would continue to seek Assange’s extradition,&#8221; the AP reported.
Assange&#8217;s lawyer, Barry Pollack, was optimistic, telling the media that he hopes the United States will stand down.
&#8220;We hope that after consideration of the U.K. court’s ruling, the United States will decide not to pursue the case further,” he said.
There are other options on the table for Assange. His associates have reportedly been asking for a pardon from outgoing President Donald Trump, who will leave office in January and is likely to pardon a number of people on his way out, and it is not known how incoming president Joe Biden feels about prosecuting Assange.

Extradition Trial For Julian Assange Begins At The Old Bailey

UK Will Not Extradite Julian Assange To Stand Trial In The US

Convicted leaker Chelsea Manning has been released from prison after serving months on a contempt of court charge after refusing to testify in front of a grand jury investigating Wikileaks editor Julian Assange.
Manning &#8220;was remanded for refusing to testify in an inquiry into Wikileaks. She had been held in a detention center in Virginia since last May,&#8221; <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51865165">according to the BBC</a>, which also noted that Manning has been charged a daily fine and the sum total Manning now owes is over a quarter million dollars.
Earlier this week, Manning was rushed to the hospital after what prison authorities termed &#8220;an incident.&#8221; Manning&#8217;s legal team later revealed the incident was a suicide attempt.
Manning was due to appear before a judge on Friday to answer questions about Assange yet again, but late Thursday afternoon, Manning&#8217;s legal team was reportedly informed that the former low-level intelligence officer could go free. Manning&#8217;s testimony was no longer necessary because the grand jury investigating possible charges against Assange had been disbanded.
&#8220;Judge Anthony Trenga today ordered Chelsea Manning’s release from confinement, after the apparent conclusion of the grand jury to which she had been subpoenaed, and before which she refused to testify. He further ordered that she pay $256,000 in fines which accrued each day she refused to cooperate with the grand jury,&#8221; Manning&#8217;s legal team said in a statement Thursday afternoon. &#8220;Needless to say we are relieved and ask that you respect her privacy while she gets on her feet.&#8221;
The United States is currently petitioning to have Julian Assange extradited so that he can face trial, potentially on charges of espionage stemming from his interactions with Manning, who pulled hundreds of classified documents from the war in Iraq, including videos, and submitted them to Wikileaks in the hopes of embarrassing the United States military. Wikileaks ultimately published the material. Manning was captured and charged with espionage shortly after the leak and was convicted in 2013.
President Barack Obama commuted Manning&#8217;s 35-year prison sentence as he left office in 2017.
The grand jury had been investigating whether Assange aided Manning in Manning&#8217;s quest to find and download damaging materials. According to documents submitted to the United Kingdom, which now has Assange in custody, the United States believes Assange counseled Manning on how to bypass U.S. cybersecurity measures and helped Manning crack passwords. Although little evidence has yet been presented &#8212; largely because Assange remains in the U.K. &#8212; the United States seems to believe that Manning did not have the sophisticated knowledge necessary to swipe the documents without help from Wikileaks and its editor-in-chief.
Manning refused to testify in front of the grand jury, claiming that all the information the United States needed was contained in transcripts from Manning&#8217;s 2013 trial, where Manning was questioned at length about communication with both Assange and Wikileaks. Manning&#8217;s legal team told the court that Manning did not need to answer any further questions, but the judge felt differently, finding Manning in contempt of court and remanding the former member of the U.S. military to prison until Manning made the decision to comply.

Manning

Chelsea Manning Released From Prison After Judge Dissolves Julian Assange Grand Jury

The United States issued an updated charging document Thursday, accusing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange of espionage and mishandling classified information he received from then-information officer Chelsea Manning.
The 18-count indictment includes the single count of conspiracy that appeared on Assange&#8217;s arrest warrant issued shortly before he was evicted from the Ecuadorian embassy in London and taken into British custody.
<a href="https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Assange-charged-with-violating-Espionage-Act-13882846.php">LMT Online</a> reports that federal prosecutors believe &#8220;Assange worked with a former Army intelligence analyst to obtain and disseminate classified information.&#8221; The indictment also argues that Assange cannot be considered a &#8220;reporter&#8221; for purposes of the First Amendment&#8217;s guarantee of freedom of the press.
Instead, the U.S. government seems to claim that Assange is a foreign agent engaged in the &#8220;explicit solicitation of classified materials&#8221; that he could publish in pursuit of an agenda, not as mere information for Americans he believed were kept in the dark about their country&#8217;s role in the deaths of Iraqi civilians during the initial years of the Iraq War.
The indictment, as the initial claim of conspiracy, stems from Assange&#8217;s interactions with Manning, who stole thousands of classified documents, audio and video files, and funneled them to Wikileaks in the hopes that Wikileaks would publish them. In the initial arrest warrant, the U.S. government described Assange as &#8220;encouraging&#8221; Manning, helping him to hack further into a classified database in order to get better material.
Manning was eventually arrested and convicted on espionage charges.
Assange believes himself to be a reporter and publisher, and considers Wikileaks a protected media outlet. To be convicted of espionage, a court of law would need to find that Assange is not, in fact, simply a publisher &#8212; and that&#8217;s what the U.S. government is arguing in order to avoid any long-term consquences for other journalists who obtain and publish classified information.
Prosectuors, LMT reports, say Assange &#8220;repeatedly encouraged sources with access to classified information to steal it&#8221; and wanted the information he received to have potential &#8220;political, diplomatic, ethical or historical impact on release.&#8221;
Assange&#8217;s attorney&#8217;s contend that Wikileaks is a news media outlet and that, if he is convicted of espionage for publishing material that turned out to be classified, Assange&#8217;s case could have repercussions for any member of the media who published information the U.S. government didn&#8217;t want readers or news consumers to see.
&#8220;The factual allegations against Mr. Assange boil down to encouraging a source to provide him information and taking efforts to protect the identity of that source,&#8221; Assange&#8217;s attorney Barry Pollack said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
The 18 counts carry with them a maximum jail sentence of 170 years, but there&#8217;s no guarantee that Assange will face trial in the United States. A court in the U.K. is currently considering at least two requests for Assange&#8217;s extradition &#8212; from the United States and Sweden &#8212; and is not expected to rule on where Assange is headed next until early June. Sweden filed its charges late last week, resurfacing an arrest warrant issued for Assange in the early 2000s stemming from an alleged sexual assault.
Assange remains in jail in the U.K. awaiting the court&#8217;s decision.

Julian Assange Charged With Espionage, Mishandling Classified Information

Bradley Manning

The controversial co-founder of WikiLeaks was sentenced Wednesday to nearly a year in prison for breaching his bail conditions and taking refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London seven years ago. In a statement to the court, Julian Assange &#8220;unreservedly&#8221; apologized to all who believe he&#8217;s &#8220;disrespected&#8221; them, while the organization he co-founded issued a complaint about the sentencing.
Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48118908">BBC</a> reported Wednesday. &#8220;The 47-year-old was found guilty of breaching the Bail Act last month after his arrest at the Ecuadorian Embassy.&#8221; Out of fear of extradition to Sweden for sexual assault allegations, Assange famously took refuge at the embassy in 2012 and remained there until he was forcefully <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/45848/watch-wikileaks-julian-assange-arrested-removed-amanda-prestigiacomo">removed</a> by British police on April 11.
In a letter to the court, Assange apologized and explained why he felt the need to take the actions he did. &#8220;I apologise unreservedly to those who consider that I have disrespected them by the way I have pursued my case,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;This is not what I wanted or intended.&#8221;
Below is the full letter (via BBC; formatting adjusted):
<blockquote>
I apologise unreservedly to those who consider that I have disrespected them by the way I have pursued my case. This is not what I wanted or intended.
I found myself struggling with terrifying circumstances for which neither I nor those from whom I sought advice could work out any remedy.
I did what I thought at the time was the best and perhaps the only thing that could be done &#8211; which I hoped might lead to a legal resolution being reached between Ecuador and Sweden that would protect me from the worst of my fears.
I regret the course that this took; the difficulties were instead compounded and impacted upon very many others.
Whilst the difficulties I now face may have become even greater, nevertheless it is right for me to say this now.
</blockquote>
Judge Deborah Taylor was not sympathetic with Assange&#8217;s decision, describing it as &#8220;hiding&#8221; and an egregious violation of the law that ended up costing taxpayers £16m, BBC notes. &#8220;Whilst you may have had fears as to what may happen to you, nonetheless you had a choice, and the course of action you chose was to commit this offense,&#8221; she said, the network reports.
Though Assange was apologetic in court, he reportedly showed his characteristic defiance of authority as he was walking out by raising his fist as his supporters jeered the court.
Assange&#8217;s organization also sounded its own note of defiance against the sentencing. &#8220;Julian Assange&#8217;s sentence is as shocking as it is vindictive. We have grave concerns as to whether he will receive a fair extradition hearing in the UK,&#8221; WikiLeaks tweeted Wednesday.
&#8220;Julian Assange&#8217;s sentence, for seeking and receiving asylum, is twice as much as the sentencing guidelines,&#8221; WikiLeaks added in a follow-up tweet. &#8220;The so-called speedboat killer, convicted of manslaughter, was only sentenced to six months for failing to appear in court.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Julian Assange&#8217;s sentence is as shocking as it is vindictive. We have grave concerns as to whether he will receive a fair extradition hearing in the UK.
&#8212; WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) <a href="https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1123549086144180229?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Julian Assange&#8217;s sentence, for seeking and receiving asylum, is twice as much as the sentencing guidelines. The so-called speedboat killer, convicted of manslaughter, was only sentenced to six months for failing to appear in court.
&#8212; WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) <a href="https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1123556937487007745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Along with his 50-week prison sentence, Assange now faces far more serious charges from the U.S. federal government for leaking classified information with the help of former U.S. intelligence analyst Bradley Manning, now Chelsea Manning. Assange could serve up to five years in prison for federal conspiracy charges.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44419/breaking-chelsea-manning-sent-jail-hank-berrien">Chelsea Manning Sent To Jail</a>

WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange Slapped With Prison Time; Issues Apology, Complaint

A federal judge ordered a 2017 criminal complaint lodged by federal investigators against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange unsealed on Monday, giving Americans their first glimpse at the evidence the United States will likely bring to an early June hearing in the U.K. demanding Assange&#8217;s extradition.
<a href="https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/438983-unsealed-docs-reveal-new-details-in-case-against-assange">The Hill reports</a> that the &#8220;original affidavit and criminal complaint were made public in a Virginia federal court for the first time since they were filed in 2017, and they include chat logs between Assange and former U.S. intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.&#8221;
It is on these chats that investigators are basing their indictment, claiming that Assange&#8217;s communications with Manning amounted to a conspiracy between the two to hack classified documents belonging to the United States military. Manning was eventually convicted of espionage because of his actions, locating, cracking and downloading thousands of intelligence cables, audio and video files, and passing them to Wikileaks for publishing.
The United States is alleging that once Assange had received the first batch of files from Manning, that he worked directly with Manning to obtain more classified information, instructing and counseling Manning on how to crack passwords and download secret files.
The documents certainly claim to show collaboration. The government&#8217;s complaint and an accompanying affidavit are full of snippets from chat logs obtained from Manning&#8217;s computer, showing Manning communicating with an individual who appears, from clues dropped in the conversations, to be Julian Assange.
The &#8220;individual,&#8221; the government claims &#8220;appeared to have extensive knowledge of WikiLeaks&#8217; day-to-day operations, including knowledge of submissions of information to the organization, as well as of financial matters,&#8221; making it highly likely Manning was communicating directly with Julian Assange. At some point in a follow up interview, Manning also seems to have admitted that &#8220;the person i was communicating was in fact assange.&#8221;
But even as the documents might establish Assange and Manning as collaborators in an effort to hack secret military files about airstrikes in Iraq, which Manning claims killed thousands of civilians, in order to prove that the pair were engaged in a &#8220;conspiracy,&#8221; the government must prove that there was a known outcome of their discussions.
In the chat logs, contained in the affidavit, Assange certainly appears to be passing on his code-cracking expertise to Manning, and passing on advice on how to break into secure networks, like the one Manning was scanning for evidence that the U.S. military was actively harming the Iraqi people. But the affadavit doesn&#8217;t show that Manning and Assange had a specific target in mind &#8212; or, at least, the chat logs don&#8217;t list one, and it&#8217;s unknown whether Manning eventually used Assange&#8217;s advice to successfully crack a secure network.
The complaint says that &#8220;it remains unknown whether Manning and Assange were successful in cracking the password,&#8221; but Manning was, indeed, eventually convicted on several counts under the Espionage Act for obtaining and disseminating classified material.
Whether this is enough to extradite Assange will be up to a court in the United Kingdom, which will entertain evidence that Assange should be shipped back to the United States to stand trial sometime in early June. It&#8217;s likely the court will also consider a competing request for extradition from Sweden, where Assange is wanted on sexual assault charges.

Federal Judge Unseals Criminal Complaint Against Julian Assange, But Is It Enough For Conspiracy?

On Thursday morning WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange was arrested in London and removed from the Ecuadorian embassy by U.K. cops.
According to a tweet from WikiLeaks, the embassy &#8220;invited British police&#8221; inside and the journalist was immediately arrested. &#8220;URGENT Julian Assange did not &#8216;walk out of the embassy&#8217;. The Ecuadorian ambassador invited British police into the embassy and he was immediately arrested,&#8221; posted the group.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
URGENT
Julian Assange did not &#8220;walk out of the embassy&#8221;. The Ecuadorian ambassador invited British police into the embassy and he was immediately arrested.
&#8212; WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) <a href="https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1116274905245470720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
The Associated Press reported that the 47-year-old was &#8220;arrested on US extradition request as well as for breaching UK bail conditions,&#8221; according to his lawyer. The U.S. government confirmed that they have charged the WikiLeaks co-founder for &#8220;helping Chelsea Manning break into classified computers.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
BREAKING: Julian Assange&#8217;s attorney says he&#8217;s been arrested on US extradition request as well as for breaching UK bail conditions.
&#8212; The Associated Press (@AP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/1116295343170314241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
BREAKING: US announces charge against Julian Assange, accusing him of helping Chelsea Manning break into classified computers.
&#8212; The Associated Press (@AP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/1116327306044354563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
It appears the warrant from the U.S. was issued in December 2017 for Assange allegedly conspiring with Manning in 2010, according to Jennifer Robinson, Assange&#8217;s attorney.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
From <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Assange?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Assange</a>: The US warrant was issued in December 2017 and is for conspiracy with Chelsea Manning <a href="https://twitter.com/xychelsea?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@xychelsea</a> in early 2010.
&#8212; Jen Robinson (@suigenerisjen) <a href="https://twitter.com/suigenerisjen/status/1116299419694059520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi said Thursday that they &#8220;are aware of the reports that Julian Assange was taken into custody by United Kingdom authorities.&#8221;
The indictment against Assange &#8220;alleges that in March 2010, Assange engaged in a conspiracy with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army, to assist Manning in cracking a password stored on U.S. Department of Defense computers connected to the Secret Internet Protocol Network (SIPRNet), a U.S. government network used for classified documents and communications,&#8221; a memo <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-computer-hacking-conspiracy">released</a> from the Justice Department details. &#8220;Manning, who had access to the computers in connection with her duties as an intelligence analyst, was using the computers to download classified records to transmit to WikiLeaks. Cracking the password would have allowed Manning to log on to the computers under a username that did not belong to her. Such a deceptive measure would have made it more difficult for investigators to determine the source of the illegal disclosures.&#8221;
The Australian native spent seven years in the embassy before his asylum was withdrawn just before his arrest &#8220;for repeatedly violating international conventions and protocol of coexistence,&#8221; according to the Ecuadorian government.
President Lenín Moreno released a video reiterating the same in a video posted to Twitter. &#8220;Today I announce that the discourteous and aggressive behavior of Mr. Julian Assange, the hostile and threatening declarations of its allied organization, against Ecuador, and especially the transgression of international treaties, have led the situation to a point where the asylum of Mr. Assange is unsustainable and no longer viable,&#8221; said Moreno, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/ecuador-withdraws-asylum-from-julian-assange-arrested-by-uk-police">according</a> to Fox News.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Ecuador retira asilo a Julian Assange por violar reiteradamente convenciones internacionales y protocolo de convivencia <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EcuadorSoberano?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EcuadorSoberano</a> <a href="https://t.co/213BWn4De1">pic.twitter.com/213BWn4De1</a>
&#8212; Comunicación Ecuador (@ComunicacionEc) <a href="https://twitter.com/ComunicacionEc/status/1116272104180154368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<a href="https://twitter.com/cnni/status/1116300362779189248">According</a> to a CNN source, Assange will be booked at London-based police station and &#8220;might need a medical assessment owing to his appearance.&#8221; It&#8217;s unclear if he&#8217;ll make it to court later on Thursday, the source added.
NSA leaker Edward Snowden posted to Twitter that the arrest &#8220;is a dark moment for press freedom.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Images of Ecuador&#8217;s ambassador inviting the UK&#8217;s secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of&#8211;like it or not&#8211;award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books. Assange&#8217;s critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom. <a href="https://t.co/ys1AIdh2FP">https://t.co/ys1AIdh2FP</a>
&#8212; Edward Snowden (@Snowden) <a href="https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1116288726601277440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Model and activist Pamela Anderson, who has spoken openly about a &#8220;romantic&#8221; relationship with Assange, reacted to the news of his arrest on Twitter. &#8220;I am in shock.. I couldn&#8217;t hear clearly what he said? He looks very bad. How could you Equador [sic] ? (Because he exposed you). How could you UK. ? Of course &#8211; you are America&#8217;s bitch and you need a diversion from your idiotic Brexit bulls***,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;And the USA ? This toxic coward of a President He needs to rally his base? &#8211; You are selfish and cruel. You have taken the entire world backwards. You are devils and liars and thieves. And you will ROTT And WE WILL RISE.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
And the USA ? 
This toxic coward of a President 
He needs to rally his base? &#8211; 
You are selfish and cruel. 
You have taken the entire world backwards.
You are devils and liars and thieves. 
And you will ROTT
And 
WE WILL RISE
&#8212; Pamela Anderson (@pamfoundation) <a href="https://twitter.com/pamfoundation/status/1116294393533796352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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WATCH:
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe loading="lazy" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="444" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/stTMt1tLT4g" width="790"></iframe></div>

WATCH: WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange Arrested, Removed From Ecuadorian Embassy

Trump Administration

On Friday morning, Chelsea Manning was <a href="https://apnews.com/569631f2b11c400cac05a29e0853624b?utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow">sent to jail</a>.
During a short hearing Manning told U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton there was no way Manning would testify in front of a jury regarding an investigation into Wikileaks. Manning said Manning &#8220;will accept whatever you bring upon me.&#8221;
Hilton found Manning in contempt of court and sent Manning to jail. Manning objected to the secrecy of the grand jury process, and claimed that any knowledge Manning had was given at Manning&#8217;s court martial.
Before the hearing, Manning issued a statement invoking the First, Fourth and Sixth amendment as protections from having to testify, saying, &#8220;In solidarity with many activists facing the odds, I will stand by my principles. I will exhaust every legal remedy available.&#8221;
McCormick said Manning could avoid going to jail by simply testifying.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44390/chelsea-manning-may-end-back-jail-after-refusing-emily-zanotti">The Daily Wire</a> reported on Thursday:
<blockquote>
<a href="https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/fed-prosecutors-who-screwed-up-big-time-over-possible-assange-case-get-judges-ok-on-chelsea-manning-subpoena/">Law &amp; Crime reports</a> that it&#8217;s unclear what issue the federal grand jury has been convened over, but it appears that prosecutors wanted Manning to testify regarding Julian Assange and Wikileaks. A U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia appeared to confirm that the government is pursuing an as-yet-unknown set of potential criminal charges against the Wikileaks founder, who is still holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
&#8220;The government slapped Manning with a subpoena to appear before a grand jury in the EDVA, Manning moved to quash the subpoena. A federal judge denied that attempted quashing on Tuesday,&#8221; Law &amp; Crime reported earlier this week.
Manning, of course, has a clear connection to Assange, having offered Wikileaks a trove of classified documents, transcripts, and videos stolen from military intelligence agencies in the Middle East during the Iraq War. Manning downloaded the classified material, ostensibly in protest of the military&#8217;s ban on LGBT individuals serving openly, and passed the material to Assange, who posted it on Wikileaks.
</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/12553/7-things-you-need-know-about-bradley-chelsea-michael-qazvini">The Daily Wire</a> noted in January 2017:
<blockquote>
Manning was charged with violating the US Espionage Act and sentenced to 35 years in prison. He will only serve seven years in prison, thanks to President Obama. Manning was detained in 2010 after leaking information of vital national security interest to the United States. He was due out of jail in 2045.
</blockquote>
Obama <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/18/obama-final-press-conference-manning-clemency/96711466/">stated</a>, &#8220;First of all, let&#8217;s be clear, Chelsea Manning has served a tough prison sentence. Given she went to trial and due process was carried out, that she took responsibility for her crime, that the sentence that she received was very disproportionate relative to what other leakers had received &#8212; and that she had served a significant amount of time &#8212; it made sense to commute a part of her sentence.&#8221;
Before being released by Obama, Manning <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/16868/chelsea-manning-rewarded-first-television-hank-berrien">issued a statement</a> saying, &#8220;The past will always affect me and I will keep that in mind while remembering that how it played out is only my starting point &#8212; not my final destination.&#8221;
In August 2017, Manning tweeted, &#8220;Imagine a world without prisons,&#8221; later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/19536/chelsea-manning-picks-fight-shapiro-over-prisons-hank-berrien">adding</a>, &#8220;police, prosecutors, and prisons are not the only forms of justice.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
imagine a world without prisons
&#8212; Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) <a href="https://twitter.com/xychelsea/status/894965903187693568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>

Chelsea Manning Sent To Jail

Chelsea Manning may end up back in jail after the transgender activist refused to comply with a federal grand jury subpoena.
<a href="https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/fed-prosecutors-who-screwed-up-big-time-over-possible-assange-case-get-judges-ok-on-chelsea-manning-subpoena/">Law &amp; Crime reports</a> that it&#8217;s unclear what issue the federal grand jury has been convened over, but it appears that prosecutors wanted Manning to testify regarding Julian Assange and Wikileaks. A U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia appeared to confirm that the government is pursuing an as-yet-unknown set of potential criminal charges against the Wikileaks founder, who is still holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
&#8220;The government slapped Manning with a subpoena to appear before a grand jury in the EDVA, Manning moved to quash the subpoena. A federal judge denied that attempted quashing on Tuesday,&#8221; Law &amp; Crime reported earlier this week.
Manning, of course, has a clear connection to Assange, having offered Wikileaks a trove of classified documents, transcripts, and videos stolen from military intelligence agencies in the Middle East during the Iraq War. Manning downloaded the classified material, ostensibly in protest of the military&#8217;s ban on LGBT individuals serving openly, and passed the material to Assange, who posted it on Wikileaks.
Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for espionage, but Manning&#8217;s sentence was commuted by then-President Barack Obama.
Manning appears to have no intention of appearing or testifying in front of the federal grand jury, whether he is able to successfully quash the subpoena or not. On Thursday, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/05/politics/chelsea-manning-grand-jury/index.html">Manning told CNN</a> that prosecutors did not specify why the were seeking testimony.
&#8220;They told us that they&#8217;re just interested in me appearing so what questions they ask me I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; Manning said. &#8220;We certainly don&#8217;t know &#8212; we can speculate like anyone else.&#8221;
CNN reports that the Justice Department has been investigating Assange since at least 2010, and that there was a recent development in the case, leading to a flurry of filings and activities in the Eastern District of Virginia over the last two weeks.
Manning&#8217;s closed hearing, the former Army intelligence worker told reporters, is scheduled for tomorrow morning, but Manning has no plans to show up.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
New statement from Chelsea Manning &#8212; she has refused to testify before grand jury. Another closed hearing is set for tomorrow am. &#8220;The court may find me in contempt, and order me to jail,&#8221; she says in statement.
&#8212; Rachel Weiner (@rachelweinerwp) <a href="https://twitter.com/rachelweinerwp/status/1103714929864069120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2019</a></blockquote>
The court has scheduled a contempt hearing for Friday, it seems, according to a statement from Manning released Thursday afternoon, though it appears Manning testified in some capacity on Thursday as well.
<blockquote>
Yesterday, I appeared before a secret grand jury after being given immunity for my testimony. All of the substantive questions pertained to my disclosures of information to the public in 2010&#8212;answers I provided in extensive testimony, during my court-martial in 2013. I responded to each question with the following statement: &#8220;I object to the question and refuse to answer on the grounds that the question is in violation of my First, Fourth, and Sixth Amendment, and other statutory rights.&#8221;
</blockquote>
Contempt of court charges do not typically result in long sentences.

Chelsea Manning May End Up Back In Jail After Refusing To Honor Subpoena

Barack Obama

Chelsea Manning, out of the spotlight after a failed run for the Senate last summer, decided to look for some attention again on Wednesday, which just so happened to be Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, by issuing the same annual message: &#8220;F*** the police.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
fuck the police <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LawEnforcementAppreciationDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LawEnforcementAppreciationDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/1nNZ57eyYS">pic.twitter.com/1nNZ57eyYS</a>
&#8212; Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) <a href="https://twitter.com/xychelsea/status/1083039379805868032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Manning added, &#8220;We live in a domestic military occupation in every major city.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
yearly reminder we live in a domestic military occupation in every major city
&#8212; Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) <a href="https://twitter.com/xychelsea/status/1083040240896495616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Manning issued the same tweet last year, albeit with a different picture:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
fuck the police<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DisarmThePolice?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DisarmThePolice</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeGotThis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeGotThis</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LawEnforcementAppreciationDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LawEnforcementAppreciationDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ugo0XbkEVW">pic.twitter.com/Ugo0XbkEVW</a>
&#8212; Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) <a href="https://twitter.com/xychelsea/status/950784439872663553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
Manning has made rancid comments about America or its institutions for some time; last October, after being released from prison, Manning visited the United Kingdom and <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/chelsea-manning-convicted-leaker-compares-living-in-us-to-prison">whimpered</a> that the United States itself was a prison, saying, &#8220;This whole notion that you get out of prison and you are free now turned out to be a bit of a downer in that sense. Because what happened, we really built this large, big prison, which is the United States, in the meantime &#8211; it was already happening, it just really intensified.&#8221; Manning added that the &#8220;surveillance systems, the cameras, or the police presence,&#8221; made America seem less free, arguing, &#8220;You think about the fact that we have walls around our country, and that is very much the same thing that is inside a prison. I see a lot of similarities between the world out here and the world that was in there.&#8221;
Manning served seven years of a 35-year sentence in prison after admitting leaking more than 700,000 military and State Department documents to WikiLeaks in 2010. Manning&#8217;s sentence was commuted by former President Barack Obama in 2017.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/30334/chelsea-manning-vows-close-prisons-abolish-ice-and-emily-zanotti">Last May</a>, Manning <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5699757/Chelsea-Manning-vows-eliminate-borders-close-prisons-abolish-ICE.html">told reporters</a>, &#8220;The rise of authoritarianism is encroaching in every aspect of life, whether it&#8217;s government or corporate or technological.&#8221;
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/19984/irony-chelsea-manning-threatens-fascists-his-james-barrett">The Daily Wire</a> noted in August 2017, Manning issued a number of tweets in &#8220;solidarity&#8221; with Antifa, including one that referenced the police, saying, &#8220;the police/intel/military state defending fascism is the real &#8220;agitator&#8221; here dismantle the police state!&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
the police/intel/military state defending fascism is the real &#8220;agitator&#8221; here dismantle the police state! a href=&#8221;https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeGotThis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&#8221;&gt;#WeGotThis <a href="https://t.co/Es4r0IonH4">https://t.co/Es4r0IonH4</a>
&#8212; Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) <a href="https://twitter.com/xychelsea/status/899037468086894592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>
Last June, police searched Manning&#8217;s Montgomery County apartment on a wellness check after Manning issued two tweets appearing to threaten suicide. Manning provided <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/06/05/chelsea-manning-video-twitter-police-mental-health/">video footage</a> to The Intercept of three officers entering the apartment with guns drawn after knocking. Manning, who was out of the country at the time, stated, &#8220;This is what a police state looks like. Guns drawn during a &#8216;wellness&#8217; check.&#8221;
Capt. Paul Starks of the Montgomery County Police told The Intercept:
<blockquote>
They responded to the address to check her welfare. Once inside the residence they realized that the residence did not match the photo that was posted on Twitter. &#8230; We tried to determine where she may be by attempting to use her phone but the phone was powered off and they weren&#8217;t able to leave a message &#8230; They don&#8217;t know what kind of circumstances they are entering when they enter a home. The fact that a weapon is drawn doesn&#8217;t mean that they are going to shoot it. Do you know what was going on in that apartment that night? No. Not until you open the door and go in. &#8230; We respond to hundreds of thousands of calls each year. Many of them are not what is phoned in.
</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/31548/chelsea-manning-friends-complain-after-armed-emily-zanotti">The Daily Wire</a> reported, &#8220;Metro Transit Police SWAT Commander William Malone <a href="https://www.themaven.net/bluelivesmatter/news/chelsea-manning-friends-complain-cops-responded-with-guns-to-her-suicide-threat-YzFTm3GgEE-Qpqwv7mckBg/">explained further that</a> people frequently use police to commit suicide, and in this case, the person they were checking on had military training: &#8216;The police should be commended for their actions in this case, not criticized.&#8217;&#8221;

Chelsea Manning Issues Annual Message On Law Enforcement Appreciation Day: ‘F*** The Police’

Police

Convicted leaker <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/chelsea-manning/10213284">Chelsea Manning&#8217;s interview</a> with the government-funded Australian radio station Triple J was cut short after the interviewer asked Manning about the documents Manning released that were found in Osama Bin Laden&#8217;s compound.
&#8220;Some of your leaked documents were found in Osama Bin Laden&#8217;s compound though, after his death, that&#8217;s information in the hands of one of America&#8217;s biggest enemies,&#8221; host Tom Tilley said to Manning. &#8220;Do you have any regrets about that outcome? What did you think when you heard that?&#8221; 
&#8220;Ah, look, I can&#8217;t really talk about specifics of my court-martial,&#8221; said Manning, who leaked over 700,000 documents to WikiLeaks. &#8220;The record of the trial is still classified.&#8221;
&#8220;But why does that mean you can&#8217;t say how you felt when you found out that piece of information?&#8221; Tilley asked pushing back. &#8220;Do you dispute that&#8217;s true?&#8221;
&#8220;Ah, I can&#8217;t &#8212; I can&#8217;t even tell you whether or not we dispute that it&#8217;s true,&#8221; Manning responded. &#8220;It&#8217;s that highly classified.&#8221; 
&#8220;Ok. What was the message you were hoping-?&#8221; Tilley said before being cut off by a media minder. 
Manning was then told to hang up.
&#8220;Why?&#8221; asked Tilley. &#8220;Why can&#8217;t we carry on this interview? What was wrong with my questioning? If you guys are talking about transparency and openness, surely we can continue this interview.&#8221;
Then, Suzi Jamil, the director of Think Inc. came on the line and told Tilley that &#8220;what&#8217;s a priority for us is to be respectful to our talent.&#8221; Jamil admitted that &#8220;there may be nothing wrong with your questioning, but we just want to be respectful to Chelsea, because she&#8217;s given up her time to have this conversation.&#8221;
&#8220;But don&#8217;t you think you should be respectful to the Australian people?&#8221; Tilley responded. &#8220;This is a taxpayer funded government broadcaster, we&#8217;re giving her the platform to come on and put forward her views. Surely she can answer some reasonable questions.&#8221;
Jamil then told Tilley that &#8220;we&#8217;d rather not move forward any further,&#8221; and ended the interview. 
&#8220;I believe that someone with a well known controversial history is going to get the opportunity to speak on the national broadcaster and air their political views, they also need to be prepared to answer some accountability questions for their actions,&#8221; Tom said about the incident on the radio show, Hack. &#8220;As to why I made sure the people jumping in knew they&#8217;d be going to air &#8212; as journalists we can&#8217;t let a precedent be set where media minders can interrupt interviews whenever they want. It would mean they could do it all the time, and they&#8217;d have too much power to manipulate the messages.&#8221;
Manning <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/35259/australia-bans-chelsea-manning-emily-zanotti">was banned from Australia last week</a> before Manning&#8217;s speaking tour was scheduled to begin.
Prior to the interview ending, Tilley also asked about Manning&#8217;s criminal background prompting Australia banning Manning. &#8220;Do you believe you have a substantial criminal background?&#8221; Tilley asked. 
&#8220;Words like criminal are used very arbitrarily &#8212; especially in this regard,&#8221; Manning said. &#8220;They basically allow certain people that have whatever record they may have in that might toe the line so to speak.&#8221;
&#8220;Well, some Australians are concerned that allowing you here on a speaking tour would send the message that risking national security is okay. What answer would you have for those critics?&#8221; Tilley asked.
&#8220;National security isn&#8217;t &#8212; it&#8217;s often used by powerful people and institutions as a sort of argument by authority,&#8221; said Manning. &#8220;If you actually try to pin them down on an argument of national security, they&#8217;re often quite lacking. So I think folks should be more critical in how they engage with such institutions, especially when they use such vague assertions like &#8216;oooh national security, or border security&#8217; or any of these other concepts.&#8221;

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