Russian intelligence cut-out Julian Assange, founder of Trump-aligned WikiLeaks, is one step closer to being extradited to the U.S. to face 17 espionage charges. British Home Secretary Priti Patel approved Assange's extradition following a long court case that found that Assange would be treated humanely by U.S. authorities. Assange has 14 days to file another appeal, which his wife / lawyer has promised to do.
Assange became the Malignant Loser's favorite cyber celebrity when WikiLeaks published emails from the campaign of Hillary Clinton which were likely stolen by the Russian military intelligence service GRU. A 2020 report by a Republican-led Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concluded that WikiLeaks participated in Russia's interference in the 2016 elections:
"Founded by Julian Assange, WikiLeaks published thousands of emails hacked from Clinton’s campaign and a top campaign aide in the weeks before the 2016 election, yielding a drumbeat of negative coverage about the Democrat.
As Russian military intelligence and WikiLeaks released the hacked documents, the report said Trump’s campaign sought advance notice, devised messaging strategies to amplify them 'and encouraged further theft of information and ... leaks.'
'The Trump campaign publicly undermined the attribution of the hack-and-leak campaign to Russia and was indifferent to whether it and WikiLeaks were furthering a Russian election interference effort,' the report added." (our emphasis)
Assange has used every vehicle to escape accountability over the past decade, including a 7-year stay in Ecuador's London embassy, and years of court fights and appeals after Ecuador tossed him out. The UK's decision to finally extradite him to the U.S. means that he's closer than ever to facing justice.
(photo: You won't have to hitch a ride to the U.S. Peter Nicholls / Reuters)
