The Biden administration “threw in the towel” over its fight with Julian Assange because it did not believe a Labour government would extradite him, the WikiLeaks founder’s former legal adviser has said.
Geoffrey Robertson KC, who mentored Sir Keir Starmer when he was a young barrister, told The Telegraph that American prosecutors knew they “couldn’t rely on” a Starmer administration to put Assange on a flight across the Atlantic.
Mr Robertson, the head of the legal chambers that has represented Assange in his battle with the US legal system, said other political factors were also at play, including pressure from Assange’s native Australia after a change of government two years ago.
Another key factor in resolving the case, Mr Robertson said, was the support for a plea bargain deal from Caroline Kennedy, the influential US ambassador to Australia.
Assange was released from Belmarsh prison in London on Monday after a deal was agreed under which he will travel to the Northern Mariana Islands, where he will plead guilty to a single charge under the Espionage Act and will be sentenced to time served. He will then fly to Australia as a free man and meet up with his wife and children.
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