Lawyer for WikiLeaks' Assange says he would fight charges

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WASHINGTON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will not willingly travel to the United States to face charges filed under seal against him, one of his lawyers said, foreshadowing a possible fight over extradition for a central figure in the U.S. special counsel's Russia-Trump investigation.

Assange, who has taken cover in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he has been granted asylum, has speculated publicly for years that the Justice Department had brought secret criminal charges against him for revealing highly sensitive government information on his website.

That hypothesis appeared closer to reality after prosecutors, in an errant court filing in an unrelated case, inadvertently revealed the existence of sealed charges. The filing, discovered Thursday night, said the charges and arrest warrant "would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint and can therefore no longer evade or avoid arrest and extradition in this matter."

A person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because the case had not been made public, confirmed that charges had been filed under seal. The exact charges Assange faces and when they might be unsealed remained uncertain Friday.

Any charges against him could help illuminate whether Russia coordinated with the Trump campaign to sway the 2016 presidential election. They also would suggest that, after years of internal Justice Department wrangling, prosecutors have decided to take a more aggressive tack against WikiLeaks.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/lawyer-for-wikileaks-assange-says-he-would-fight-charges/ar-BBPNpzP?li=BBnbcA1

[Denzil_DC]

1. It's ironic that Assange originally jumped bail and hid out in the Ecuadorian embassy

because he claimed he was in danger of extradition to the US.

I've no idea whether that was a real prospect at the time or just bluster (though he'd have been in less danger of extradition from Sweden than from the UK), but his antics since have made it far more likely that it will happen. And he's a long, long way from Moscow even if they'd have him, poor dear.