Former Vice President Mike Pence reacted to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's Monday release from a British prison, saying his plea deal with President Joe Biden's administration was a "miscarriage of justice" that dishonored veterans and their families.
Assange has been pursued by the United States for WikiLeaks' publication of thousands of top-secret military documents in 2010. Allegations against the WikiLeaks founder suggested that Assange conspired with Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst, to hack into U.S. military databases, which led to the publication of sensitive documents that exposed military and diplomatic secrets.
After spending over five years in Belmarsh prison in London, Assange pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Espionage Act by participating in a conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, according to court documents filed Monday evening in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory located in the Pacific Ocean.
Pence lamented Assange's release and plea deal with the Biden administration in an X post.
"Julian Assange endangered the lives of our troops in a time of war and should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Pence wrote. "The Biden administration’s plea deal with Assange is a miscarriage of justice and dishonors the service and sacrifice of the men and women of our Armed Forces and their families." Julian Assange endangered the lives of our troops in a time of war and should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The Biden administration’s plea deal with Assange is a miscarriage of justice and dishonors the service and sacrifice of the men and women of our…
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) June 25, 2024
"There should be no plea deals to avoid prison for anyone that endangers the security of our military or the national security of the United States. Ever," the former vice president added.
Pence's post was overwhelmingly panned by X users.
Other politicians and pundits reacted to Assange's release favorably.
Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie said he heard news of Assange's release upon landing in the nation's Capital.
"His liberation is great news, but it’s a travesty that he’s already spent so much time in jail," Massie wrote before panning the charges originally brought against him. "Obama, Trump, & Biden should have never pursued this prosecution."
Massie then called for the pardoning of whistleblower Edward Snowden and Silk Road owner and operator Ross Ulbricht. My plane landed in DC & I just heard Julian Assange will soon be free due to a deal.
His liberation is great news, but it’s a travesty that he’s already spent so much time in jail.
Obama, Trump, & Biden should have never pursued this prosecution.
Pardon Snowden & Free Ross now
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) June 25, 2024
Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy similarly took issue with the charges brought against Assange, noting his plea deal appeared to be a political decision on behalf of the Biden administration.
"It’s great that Julian Assange will finally be released (in what smells like a desperate Biden gambit for libertarian votes), but it’s shameful that he had to spend years rotting in a foreign prison for doing what other reporters do regularly, while the government employee who leaked to him - Chelsea Manning - had her sentence commuted by Obama because she’s a member of a favored political class (transgender)," Ramaswamy wrote, calling for a full pardon of Assange. It’s great that Julian Assange will finally be released (in what smells like a desperate Biden gambit for libertarian votes), but it’s shameful that he had to spend years rotting in a foreign prison for doing what other reporters do regularly, while the government employee who…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) June 25, 2024
Others, however, suggested Assange's release from prison was a pyrrhic victory as the WikiLeaks founder pleaded guilty to his count of violating the Espionage Act, thus damaging the protection of journalism under the First Amendment.
"Julian Assange struck a plea deal and will go free! I am overjoyed. He's a generational hero," wrote independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "The bad news is that he had to plea[d] guilty to conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense info. Which means the US security state succeeded in criminalizing journalism and extending their jurisdiction globally to non-citizens. Julian had to take this. He has heart problems and he would have died in prison."
"But the security state has imposed a horrifying precedent and dealt a big blow to freedom of the press," Kennedy added. Julian Assange struck a plea deal and will go free! I am overjoyed. He's a generational hero.
The bad news is that he had to plea guilty to conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense info. Which means the US security state succeeded in criminalizing journalism and…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 24, 2024
During last month's Libertarian National Convention, Kennedy said he would pardon Assange on day one of his administration and build a statue of him at the Washington Press Club.
In April, President Joe Biden indicated that his administration was considering dropping efforts to prosecute the WikiLeaks founder.
“We’re considering it,” said the president at the time.
According to unnamed sources who spoke with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), officials within the DOJ confirmed they were considering allowing Assange to plead guilty to a reduced charge of mishandling classified information.
Assange's case has raised profound questions about the balance between national security and freedom of the press. Assange and his supporters argue that his actions were those of a journalist exposing governmental wrongdoings and deserving of protection under the First Amendment. Critics, however, see him as a threat to national security, accusing him of recklessly endangering lives through the mass release of classified documents.
