CIA Planned to Kidnap or Poison WikiLeaks Leader Julian Assange: Plea Deal Ensured Plot Did Not Emerge in Court
Julian Assange's plea deal ensured that secret plots to kidnap and even assassinate the WikiLeaks founder hatched by the CIA would not emerge in court.
June 26 2024, Updated 10:24 a.m. ET
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange walked free on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a single felony charge of violating the Espionage Act by obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets, ending a long extradition battle and legal saga that began over a decade ago, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The Joe Biden Justice Department's plea deal ensured that secret plots to kidnap and even assassinate Assange hatched by the CIA and Mike Pompeo, its director under the Donald Trump administration, would not emerge in court, SpyTalk reports.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange walked free on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a single felony charge of violating the Espionage Act by obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets.
Plans to neutralize Assange allegedly discussed by the CIA and Trump administration officials included breaking in and kidnapping him from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where the WikiLeaks founder was holed up for seven years, and blocking Russian attempts to smuggle him out of the country by crashing a car into a diplomatic vehicle or shooting out the tires of a plane.
According to intelligence and national security journalist Zach Dorfman, who initially reported on the secret government plans for Yahoo News, a desire to keep those discussions under wraps may have contributed to the Biden DOJ's decision to reduce the charges against Assange and move forward with a plea deal permitting him to return to his native Australia as a free man.
A desire to keep those discussions under wraps may have contributed to the Biden DOJ's decision to reduce the charges against Assange and move forward with a plea deal.
"During the Trump administration, even many harsh critics of Assange, who wholeheartedly supported prosecuting him, thought Pompeo’s extraordinary rendition plots foolhardy in the extreme, and probably illegal. They also — critically — thought it might harm Assange’s prosecution," Dorfman wrote on X on Tuesday.
"Former Trump administration and US intelligence officials directly engaged in discussions about Assange argued strenuously that, should Pompeo’s and CIA’s plans come to light, it could make the discovery process nightmarish for the prosecution, should Assange ever see trial," he continued.
"During the Trump administration, even many harsh critics of Assange, who wholeheartedly supported prosecuting him, thought Pompeo’s extraordinary rendition plots foolhardy in the extreme, and probably illegal. They also — critically — thought it might harm Assange’s prosecution," Dorfman wrote on X on Tuesday.
"Moreover, and relatedly, some Trump administration officials had deep reservations about the legality of prosecuting Assange after the proposed rendition of the WikiLeaks founder from the Ecuadorian embassy was to be carried out," Dorfman added.
"What, if any, consideration Biden DOJ officials gave to the difficulties in prosecuting Assange because of the very aggressive — and even some Trump administration officials believed — illegal, unethical, and self-defeating proposals re: the Wikileaks founder — could be revealing."
After spending over five years in British custody, Assange flew home to Australia on Wednesday, reuniting with his wife and father at the airport in Canberra.
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After spending over five years in British custody, Assange flew home to Australia on Wednesday, reuniting with his wife and father at the airport in Canberra.
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