'Absolutely could be a resolution' to Assange case: Ambassador Kennedy hints at potential plea deal

United States Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy hinted at a potential plea deal that legal experts say could allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to return to his home country of Australia.

When asked whether she believed the U.S. and Australia could reach a diplomatic agreement on Assange, Kennedy told The Sydney Morning Herald this week that the Justice Department is handling the "ongoing case."

Despite the protests of media outlets, Assange has been wanted by U.S. officials for more than a decade after he published leaks provided by former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. Since 2019, he has been fighting U.S. extradition from prison in London. His legal options may be exhausted within two months, coinciding with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's visit to D.C. in October.

"So it’s not really a diplomatic issue, but I think that there absolutely could be a resolution," Kennedy said during the interview at her Canberra home.

Kennedy, who met in May with members of the Parliamentary Friends of Julian Assange Group, noted how Secretary of State Antony Blinken had recently said charges against Assange were serious and that he allegedly endangered national security. "But there is a way to resolve it," she also said. 

When pressed about a potential deal to reduce charges against Assange in exchange for a guilty plea, she said: "That's up to the Justice Department."

"Caroline Kennedy wouldn’t be saying these things if they didn’t want a way out," Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton said. "The Americans want this off their plate."

Australian National University international law expert Don Rothwell said the Biden administration was "very unlikely" to completely drop the charges against Assange given Kennedy's comments. 

A more realistic option would be to downgrade Assange's charges in exchange for a guilty plea that takes into account the four years he has already spent imprisoned in the U.K., and the remainder of any sentence could be served in Australia, according to Rothwell.

The only issue is that Assange would need to travel to the U.S. and plead guilty, which "would be a significant sticking point for him," Rothwell said. 

However, Shipton said, "Julian cannot go to the US under any circumstances" because of the risk it could lead his brother to attempt suicide.

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