The US Justice Department is considering whether to allow Julian Assange to plead guilty to the less serious charge of mishandling classified information, opening up the possibility of a deal that could lead to his release from a British prison.
The Wall Street Journal writes this, citing people familiar with the dossier.
Assange, the 52-year-old controversial founder of WikiLeaks, is fighting a long legal battle with the UK government to avoid being extradited to the US and facing trial for publishing thousands of classified military documents and US diplomatic cables around 2010. A UK court is currently evaluating whether to allow a final appeal by Assange.
After US prosecutors charged him in 2019, British law enforcement arrested him and he has been held in a London prison ever since.
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