US seeks ‘arrest’ of WikiLeaks head Julian Assange: Report

Washington, April 21

Two media reports say US prosecutors are preparing or closely considering charges against the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, including its founder Julian Assange, for revealing sensitive government secrets.

CNN reported on Friday that authorities are preparing to seek Assange's arrest. The Washington Post reported prosecutors are weighing charges against the organisation's members after the Obama-era Justice Department declined to do so.

Also read: Will Assange be able to walk free now?

Possible charges include conspiracy, theft of government property and violating the Espionage Act, the newspaper said, though any charges would need approval from high-ranking officials in the Justice Department.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The move comes after WikiLeaks last month released nearly 8,000 documents that it says reveal secrets about the CIA's cyberespionage tools for breaking into computers, cellphones and even smart TVs.

It previously published 250,000 State Department cables and embarrassed the US military with hundreds of thousands of logs from Iraq and Afghanistan.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo last week denounced the group as a "hostile intelligence service" and a threat to US national security. And Attorney General Jeff Sessions told reporters yesterday that Assange's arrest is a priority as the Justice Department steps up efforts to prosecute people who leak classified information to the media.

"We've already begun to step up our efforts and whenever a case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail," Sessions said.

Their condemnation of WikiLeaks differed sharply from President Donald Trump's past praise of the organisation.

Before last year's election, Trump said he was happy to see WikiLeaks publish private, politically damaging emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta.

He was less thrilled about the release of CIA tactics, which the White House said was different because it involved information about secretive national security tools.

The Post reported that it wasn't clear whether prosecutors are also looking at WikiLeaks' role in the Podesta case.

Assange's attorney, Barry Pollack, told The Associated Press authorities have not apprised him of the status of their investigation. —AP