According to the news site “Yahoo! News”, which refers to the statements of about 30 former government officials and intelligence officials in Washington, plans to kidnap and kill were also discussed in the highest levels of the administration of then US President Donald Trump Assange would have included.
The scenarios discussed also included a possible firefight in the heart of London between US and British intelligence officers on the one hand and Russian agents on the other if the Russians tried to organize Assange’s escape, the ANSA news agency quoted as saying Report. For fear of an international crisis with unpredictable consequences and problems with Great Britain, this was rejected again.
The plans were based on Mike Pompeo, the then CIA chief and later US Secretary of State. Pompeo was inspired by the desire to retaliate for the CIA data leak uncovered by Wikileaks, the report said. Pompeo gave the order to treat Assange like a foreign spy. In addition, there were reports in the second half of 2017 that Russia was preparing to flee Assange, who had lived as a political refugee in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012.
“As an American citizen, I find it utterly outrageous and shameful that our government may have considered kidnapping or murdering someone without trial for simply telling the truth by disclosing real information,” commented one of Assange’s attorneys , Barry Pollack, the report. He therefore hoped that these shocking developments would be examined by the British court that decides on the extradition of Assange to the United States. The US accuses Assange of violating the espionage law for helping former soldier Chelsea Manning to publicize US state secrets.
