Key Takeaways
- Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has reached a deal with the US Justice Department to plead guilty to violating the Espionage Act.
- The deal means that Assange will plead guilty to a single felony count of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information.
- The case involves the unauthorized disclosure of national defense information, which is a serious offense under the Espionage Act.
Washington: Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has reached a tentative deal with U.S. Justice Department to plead guilty to a single felony count of violating the Espionage Act, with no additional prison time, according to court filings released Monday evening.
Assange left a British prison on Monday and flew out of Britain, Wikileaks said on social media platform X.
“The defendant will plead guilty to the charge in the (Criminal) Information of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information relating to the national defense of the United States,” a letter filed by the Justice Department showed.
The Criminal Information, filed alongside the letter, says that Assange “knowingly and unlawfully conspired” with Chelsea Manning to “receive and obtain documents, writings, and notes connected with the national defense” and “willfully communicate” the documents to “persons not entitled to receive them.”
