US submits extradition request for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
The United States government has formally submitted an extradition request to the United Kingdom for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a Justice Department official said Tuesday. Assange faces an 18-count indictment that accuses him of soliciting and publishing classified information and of conspiring with former Army private Chelsea Manning to crack a Defense Department computer password. That indictment, which includes Espionage Act charges, was issued by the Justice Department last month and is pending in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. The extradition request had been expected ever since U.S. authorities first announced a criminal case against Assange. Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi said it was submitted to the United Kingdom. The 47-year-old Assange was evicted on April 11 from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he had been holed up since 2012 after Ecuador granted him political asylum. He was arrested by British police and is currently serving a 50-week sentence for jumping bail. Sweden also seeks him for questioning about an alleged rape, which Assange has denied. Assange was initially charged with a single computer crime violation on allegations that he worked with Manning to crack a government password. Some legal experts have said the additional Espionage Act charges might slow or complicate the extradition process to the extent the United Kingdom views them as political offenses and therefore exempt from extradition. Manning, who spent seven years in a military prison for delivering a trove of classified information to Assange before having her sentence commuted by then-President Barack Obama, has been jailed for civil contempt in Virginia after refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. By Eric Tucker Associated Press. Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
GOP’s Justin Amash, impeachment supporter, quits conservative group
Rep. Justin Amash, the lone Republican calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment, has quit the Freedom Caucus of House conservatives, his spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday. The split comes a few weeks after Amash called for the House to impeach Trump based on the details of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. Several members of the Freedom Caucus said they were blindsided by Amash’s move, but he has stood by it, repeating his argument in detail on Twitter. Trump and many of his allies on Capitol Hill say the report and the Democrats’ investigations of Trump are drummed-up partisan exercises. Amash’s departure from the caucus — he was one of the group’s founders — is a reflection of how closely the group is now tied to the president. While Amash’s views on small government have not changed, his break on impeachment has strained ties with his GOP colleagues. Asked about Amash on Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican-California, criticized his voting record and said Amash “can determine his own future.” Philosophically, he said, Amash is “probably in a different place than the majority of all of us.” Trump also has said he’s not impressed by Amash. But the Grand Rapids-area Republican hails from a state that Trump swiped from Democrats in 2016 and is driving to win again in 2020. For his part, Amash has not said whether he will run for re-election to his House seat. He has left open the prospect of running for president in 2020 as a Libertarian, which could take away support from Trump. At a town hall in his district May 28, he received standing ovations from many who saluted his “courage.” Amash also sparred with some former supporters who faulted him for embracing a Democratic “smear attack” against Trump. Citing Mueller’s report, Amash said Trump had asked former White House counsel Don McGahn to create a “false record” denying that he had asked for Mueller’s removal as special counsel. “Things like that to me reflect incredible dishonesty and really harm the office of the presidency. I don’t think that you can just let that stuff go,” Amash told his constituents. “I think you have to have proceedings to deter this kind of conduct even if ultimately the person is not convicted.” Amash’s resignation from the Freedom Caucus was confirmed by spokeswoman Poppy Nelson and was first reported by CNN. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
