Assange files legal challenge to prevent extradition to US

[Bladewire]

Assange files legal challenge to prevent extradition to US

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange launched a legal challenge against the Trump administration on Wednesday in an effort to require U.S. prosecutors to “unseal” any secret charges against him.

Assange’s lawyers filed an urgent application to the Washington-based Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) in an attempt to head off a possible extradition to the U.S., according to The Guardian.

The IACHR did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

The Australian-born hacked has been hiding out at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over a rape investigation.

Though Swedish prosecutors have since dropped their request for extradition, a U.S. court filing revealed in November suggests that U.S. prosecutors having already pressed sealed charges against Assange.

Furthermore, reports have emerged that Assange’s Ecuadorian hosts have become increasingly displeased with their tenant. Should he be kicked out of the embassy, Assange could face contempt of court charges in the United Kingdom for fleeing justice, after which U.S. prosecutors could renew extradition proceedings.

Assange reportedly rejected a deal in December brokered between Ecuador and the United Kingdom that would allow him to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy without the risk of being extradited for charges abroad.

Though it is unclear what exact charges Assange could face in the U.S., officials have sought to prosecute him since WikiLeaks distributed classified U.S. cables obtained from former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010.

WikiLeaks has also come under scrutiny from special counsel Robert Mueller in his probe into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election.

The Guardian reported in November that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort held private conversations with Assange in London around the time he joined then-candidate Trump's campaign team.

Manafort and WikiLeaks denied the report, with WikiLeaks establishing a crowdfunding campaign in an effort to sue The Guardian.

The 1,172-page submission Wednesday to the IACHR, which monitors human rights in the Western Hemisphere, calls on the U.S. to clarify the charges Assange would face and for Ecuador to cease its “espionage activities” against him, according to The Guardian. While the IACHR hears appeals on individual cases, the Trump administration has boycotted its most recent hearings.

The document also alleges that U.S. prosecutors have begun approaching people, including some associated with WikiLeaks’ joint publications with other media about American foreign policy, throughout Europe to offer immunity in return for testimony against Assange.

[Bladewire]

[Bladewire]

Stone Indictment Details Apparent Ties to Wikileaks, Assange

A SEVEN-COUNT indictment filed in federal court Friday against Trump confidante Roger Stone describes a series of covert actions across two continents to upend Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign – apparently in partnership with the head of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, as well as a political pundit and a radio host.

Special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the election as well as possible collusion between members of the Trump campaign and Moscow, charged Stone with witness tampering, obstruction of an official proceeding and lying to federal investigators.

The indictment largely draws from a series of text messages, emails and other documents. Like the other documents Mueller's team has filed, the Stone indictment is vague in spelling out connections to President Donald Trump and his campaign, mostly laying out Stone's knowledge of a scheme by which a tranche of emails stolen from the Clinton campaign were made public and his subsequent lies about what he knew.

Neither Assange nor Wikileaks is identified by name in the 23-page document, but its descriptions of the website and its dyspeptic editor – himself a vocal critic of Clinton – leave little room for doubt. It describes "Organization 1" as an outfit that "had previously posted documents stolen by others from U.S. persons, entities, and the U.S. government, released tens of thousands of documents stolen from the DNC and the personal email account of the chairman of the U.S. presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton," and that it is led by an individual who was "located at all relevant times at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London."

Assange hasn't left the embassy since 2012, when he sought refuge there after being indicted by authorities in Sweden and the United States.