A federal grand jury in Virginia has indicted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on 18 charges, including conspiracy to obtain national-security secrets and leaking classified information.
The Justice Department charged the embattled self-described journalist with conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to commit computer intrusion and receive national-security information — including State Department reports on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — and then releasing that information.
The WikiLeaks founder’s behavior "risked serious harm" to the U.S., according to the indictment.
"The department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy and we thank you for it. It is not and never has been the department's policy to target them for reporting. But Julian Assange is no journalist," said John Demers, chief of the Justice Department's National Security Division.
Assange, 47, is currently detained in London as the U.S. attempts to extradite him.
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