Assange Facing 'Greater Than Ever' Legal Danger - Greenwald

© AP Photo / Markus SchreiberIn this Oct. 4, 2016 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange participates via video link at a news conference marking the 10th anniversary of the secrecy-spilling group in Berlin. WikiLeaks said on Monday, Oct. 17, 2016, that Assange's internet access has been cut by an unidentified state actor.
In this Oct. 4, 2016 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange participates via video link at a news conference marking the 10th anniversary of the secrecy-spilling group in Berlin. WikiLeaks said on Monday, Oct. 17, 2016, that Assange's internet access has been cut by an unidentified state actor. - Sputnik International
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Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, may be in even greater danger now that Sweden has closed its rape investigation of him, as the United States may still want to prosecute him for leaking classified documents, Glenn Greenwald, a journalist that collaborated with former NSA employee-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden, said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The journalist stated that the United States may still want to prosecute him for leaking classified documents.

Earlier in the day, Swedish prosecutors confirmed dropping its rape investigation of Assange. UK police, on the other hand, have insisted that they would still have to arrest the WikiLeaks founder for past violations of bail conditions if he stepped out of the Ecuadorian embassy, where he has been holed up for years.

"But that celebration obscures several ironies. The most glaring of which is that the legal jeopardy Assange now faces is likely greater than ever," Greenwald wrote in The Intercept, a news outlet in which he serves as a co-editor and which was used to publish many stories based on information obtained by Snowden.

© REUTERS / Peter NichollsJournalists are seen outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is taking refuge, London, Britain, May 19, 2017
Journalists are seen outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is taking refuge, London, Britain, May 19, 2017 - Sputnik International
Journalists are seen outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is taking refuge, London, Britain, May 19, 2017

According to Greenwald, it seems likely for Washington to want to prosecute Assange for exposing thousands of classified state documents.

Greeenwald suggested that while prosecution seemed unlikely under the administration of former US President Barack Obama because of risk for trials against US media that published the classified information revealed by WikiLeaks, the current administration might want to proceed with the process regardless of the consequences for the media.

In April, CIA Director Mike Pompeo spoke out against WikiLeaks, comparing the organization to a foreign intelligence service. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said later in April that arrest of Assange was a "priority" for the United States.

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