Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S. government that will allow him to avoid prison time, likely ending a years-long game of cat and mouse between Assange and the U.S. government.
In an agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) made public yesterday, Assange will plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information. He'll be allowed to avoid extradition to the United States and walk free in lieu of time already served behind bars, according to court documents
![WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange looks out a plane window as he approaches Bangkok airport for layover, according to the post by Wikileaks on X, in this picture released to social media on June 25, 2024. (Wikileaks via X/via Reuters)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F06%2F25%2Fid5674912-2024-06-25T095048Z_2_LYNXMPEK5O0D1_RTROPTP_4_USA-ASSANGE-1200x800.jpg&w=1200&q=75)
In a letter to the judge overseeing the case, a DOJ official disclosed that the hearing to finalize the plea agreement would be held in Saipon, the capital of the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands was chosen for the hearing because Assange reportedly expressed “opposition to traveling to the continental United States to enter his guilty plea,” and because of its proximity to his home country of Australia.
The DOJ said it “expects he will return [to Australia]” after the one day hearing concludes.
Under the terms of the plea deal, Assange will serve no additional time than the 62 months that he’s already served in a British prison.
For years, Assange has fought against extradition to the U.S.
But the political tides turned in his favor recently as all three major presidential contenders—President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—suggested that they were each interested in ending Assange’s prosecution.
Assange has been pursued due to his role in accessing and publishing classified materials obtained by U.S. Army analyst Bradley Manning.
Wikileaks published a trove of materials on the U.S. military and the Middle East, including a video showing troops manning drones gunning down a Reuters employee and civilians. The trove also included the identities of human sources.
The DOJ said in its indictment of Assange in 2019 that Assange “risked serious harm to United States national security to the benefit of our adversaries.”
Assange’s supporters, meanwhile, say he is an anti-establishment hero who has been victimized because he exposed wrongdoing within the U.S. government.
His case has long sparked debate about the dividing line between legitimate journalism and espionage.
—Joseph Lord and Tom Ozimek
![House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks during a press conference urging the Senate to take up the Israel Security Assistance Support Act outside the U.S. Capitol House of Representatives steps in Washington on May 16, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F05%2F16%2Fid5651387-05162024-DSC09845-Mike-Johnson-1200x800.jpg&w=1200&q=75)
JOHNSON CAREFULLY WALKS REPUBLICAN TIGHTROPE
Since he gained the title of speaker in October 2023, Mike Johnson (R-La.) has had to navigate the difficulties of overseeing a staunchly-divided House Republican Party.
As speaker, Johnson has steered a fractious and razor-thin Republican majority while defeating an effort to remove him from the top job in the House of Representatives.
Serious divides exist among Republicans on how to confront and control what they view as the costly, freedom-threatening leviathan that Democrats have made of the federal government.
On one side of the issue are lawmakers like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), plus a varying cast of members of the House Freedom Caucus.
These lawmakers say they’re tired of constantly caving into Democrats on major issues: They want Johnson and the GOP leadership to push all-or-nothing votes that seek to repeal or defund President Joe Biden’s major initiatives.
On the other side is the rest of the House Republican conference, most of whom, like Johnson, are also conservatives, along with a shrinking contingent of moderates.
They prefer workable compromises, however, to concretely advance conservative goals instead of “big” votes that are doomed to fail, thus gaining nothing.
This coterie of lawmakers still make up the broad majority of the House Republican conference—a fact put on display when Johnson’s speakership was threatened in May.
Greene’s May 8 motion to vacate the speaker’s chair to replace Johnson was rejected on a 359–43 vote. There are no guarantees the Georgia Republican won’t try again, but every House Republican interviewed by The Epoch Times for this story expressed abject weariness with such conflict.
For Johnson, compromises that leave Republicans walking away with some gains are still the target, particularly in a government largely controlled by Democrats.
“President [Ronald} Reagan often told [his White House chief of staff] James Baker and other aides that he would rather get 80 percent of what he wants than to go over the cliff with his flag flying,” Johnson told The Epoch Times.
“Congress is a body built on legislative consensus, and, while there may be scenarios where it seems prudent to plant our flag and refuse to compromise, those decisions must be driven by consensus and also the possibility of success,” he said, emphasizing that Democrats hold the Senate and White House, while Republicans only have a one or two seat majority in the House.
Johnson has had some hiccups that frustrated conservatives, particularly in his decision to allow a vote on Ukraine funding without border concessions from Democrats, and his deciding vote that killed a measure to force a warrant requirement on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act queries.
Still, the May vote showed it’s unlikely that Johnson will be unseated before the end of the 118th Congress—but his future in leadership after that is uncertain.
Johnson has made clear he plans to run for reelection as the GOP leader in the 119th Congress.
The biggest factor determining Johnson’s political future is the Nov. 5 elections: he’ll almost certainly need to expand Republicans’ majority in order to be reelected.
“If he increases the House Republican majority and if President [Donald] Trump wins the presidency and wants him to be speaker, then it’s virtually impossible to beat him,” said former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ohio).
“But now if they lose the majority, I would not think he would be the Minority Leader.”
—Mark Tapscott and Joseph Lord
BIG PRIMARIES TODAY
June 25 will witness crucial election races across the country.
The big story in Colorado is Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). She will be running in the Fourth District GOP primary after moving from the Third District.
The district switch has put her outside the reach of Adam Frisch, the presumptive Democratic nominee in the Third, who nearly beat Boebert in 2022.
Although she’ll be on the primary ballot, Boebert will be conspicuously absent from the Fourth District’s special election that same day. It will replace Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who stepped down earlier this year. Republican Greg Lopez, who has no aspirations in the primary, will be running against Democrat Trisha Calvarese and others to finish his term.
Meanwhile, in Boebert’s former district, Grand Junction attorney Will Hurd has emerged as a top GOP contender. He’s facing former State Rep. Ron Hanks and others.
In the Fifth District Republican primary, Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams is up against Jeff Crank. Democrats River Gassen and Joe Reagan are competing on the Democrat side.
And in the Eighth District, which is evenly split between the parties, Gabe Evans and Dr. Janak Joshi are facing off in the GOP primary. Incumbent Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.) has no challengers.
In New York, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) is in a tough primary race against Westchester County Executive George Latimer in the 16th District.
Why? It’s a single issue. The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has committed more than $14 million to opposing Mr. Bowman, who has referred to the Gaza invasion as a “genocide.”
In the state’s 19th District, Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) will not be dealing with any primary on June 25. He’s on pace to face Democrat Josh Riley, who likewise will not be in any primaries on that date.
Molinaro defeated Riley in 2022, despite polling from the time that generally showed Mr. Riley in the lead. But that was before redistricting by the state legislature, which is dominated by Democrats.
The Cook Political Report rates his district a Republican toss-up. Right now, however, Mr. Riley has almost twice as much cash on hand as the incumbent. It all suggests the district will see a strong fight in the next few months—and with the House majority in the balance.
In the state’s 22nd District, another seat affected by redistricting, Democrats John Mannion and Sarah Klee Hood are vying to take on Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) in the fall in a district Cook has rated “Lean Democrat.”
And in Utah, a key endorsement has rippled through the GOP primary to replace Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). Trent Staggs received the backing of former President Donald Trump.
But Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) and former Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson could finish ahead of the mayor of Riverton, Utah.
—Nathan Worcester
BOOKMARKS
U.S. agencies will assist Ukraine with the printing of more than 3 million elementary school textbooks for the coming school year. The aid is needed to fill the gap left by printing presses disabled during Ukraine’s war with Russia.
The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward in connection to wildfires started in New Mexico earlier this month. The fires have resulted in the evacuation of thousands of residents, but their cause remains unclear.
Canadian Ambassador Jennifer May has raised the alarm over human rights abuses in China. During a three-day trip to Xinjiang province, May highlighted U.N. reports of suppression of Uyghur language education, forced labor, and imprisonment of Uyghurs in re-education camps.
Canada is accusing China of producing an excess of electric vehicles (EVs) to purposely oversaturate the market, driving down prices. In response it is considering up to a 100 percent tariff on Chinese EVs.
After years of mask-mandates following the COVID-19 pandemic, some states are considering banning them as they are being used to conceal the identities of criminals. Some are criticizing the mask bans as racist.
—Stacy Robinson