Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, reached a plea deal with the United States Justice Department on June 24, 2024. According to multiple sources, including CNN and The New York Times, Assange agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge related to his role in publishing classified material. The deal will allow him to avoid imprisonment in the US and return immediately to his native country, Australia.
Assange had been facing up to 175 years in prison for his alleged involvement in one of the largest breaches of classified material by the US government. However, under the terms of this plea deal, he is expected to be sentenced to a term equal to the time he has already served in a high-security prison in London while fighting extradition.
The plea hearing and sentencing are scheduled for Wednesday morning at a federal court in Saipan, which is near Australia. Assange's legal team had opposed setting foot on US soil for the guilty plea due to concerns about potential further legal action against him.
Assange gained international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks published thousands of classified documents provided by former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. The documents included diplomatic cables, significant activity reports, and information related to Guantanamo Bay detainees. US officials alleged that Assange encouraged Manning to obtain the material and publish it on WikiLeaks.
The deal comes after a UK court ruled in May that Assange had the right to appeal his final challenge against extradition to the US, dealing a significant blow to US efforts to bring him back for trial. President Biden has reportedly been considering a request from Australian government officials for Assange's return.
Assange's legal troubles began in 2010 when he was arrested in Sweden on rape and sexual assault allegations, which he denied. He spent seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden before being arrested by British police at the request of US authorities in 2019.
WikiLeaks played a significant role in the 2016 presidential election, publishing thousands of emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee that had been stolen by Russian government hackers. Assange and WikiLeaks are mentioned hundreds of times in special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, though they were not charged for their actions related to the 2016 campaign.