It's been almost three years since WikiLeaks started releasing hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables. Shortly after the first leak, the U.S. government convened a grand jury investigation into Julian Assange and his organization, considering whether to bring criminal charges against him.
That investigation seems to be coming to an end.
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Anonymous U.S. officials hinted that the Justice Department is giving up on the charges against Assange for publishing the secret documents he received from Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning, as first reported by The Washington Post.
The Justice Department has concluded that it can't accuse Assange of espionage for just publishing leaked documents because that would create a dangerous precedent for many news organizations that publish and report leaked information.
"[The] issue isn't whether Espionage Act applies; it's setting precedent for prosecuting any third party violations," tweeted Steve Vladek, a law professor at American University Washington College of Law.
Department of Justice officials described their conundrum as a "New York Times" problem, according to The Post.
Yet, despite these leaked hints, the official said the investigation remains formally open no decision has been made. However, this doesn't rule out the possibility of the U.S. government accusing Assange of different crimes.
Wikileaks responded to the Post's story on Tuesday through a series of updates on its Twitter account, expressing its skepticism about the veracity of the news outlet's report.
(2/6) the source of the report is anonymous officials of unknown proxmity to case with unknown motivations
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) November 26, 2013
(4/6) For last 2 years combined DoJ/Whitehouse/State/Pentagon position has been to attack our sourcing/processing not publication.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) November 26, 2013
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