Wikileaks

"First, I'm going to write a book about this entire ordeal," Donald Trump's longtime associate said, following the president's commutation of his 40-month prison sentence.

The president commuted the 40-month prison sentence of his longtime associate on Friday evening.

The WikiLeaks founder has been held in England's Belmarsh prison.

District Judge Anthony Trenga ordered the release of whistleblower activist Chelsea Manning Thursday, one day after Manning was reported to have attempted suicide while being held on contempt of court charges.

Manning has been imprisoned after her refusal to testify before a grand jury about her connection with WikiLeaks.

"The words that are coming out from the United States about WikiLeaks revelations were hollow 10 years ago, and they don't increase in legitimacy as years go by," Kristinn Hrafnsson said.

"If it was simply a case which was decided upon with the merit of the laws, I wouldn't worry at all, but this is a political case," WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said this week.

"If you are going to put somebody in jail for the rest of his life for publishing diplomatic cables...that is an attack on all journalists," one panelist said at a talk in London this week.

"The case will now go on for much longer than we thought," WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said outside a London court this week, surrounded by banners and supporters of the organization.

The president tried to distance his 2016 campaign from the GOP operative, who served a short stint as an adviser, by making false claims about the timeline regarding Stone's involvement.

The jury deliberated for just eight hours before convicting Stone last week on each count federal prosecutors had advanced.

Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates told a court Tuesday that Trump did discuss WikiLeaks with Roger Stone in 2016.

If convicted, Stone could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

House Democrats argued in new court filings that redacted information from the Mueller report "may also be relevant to the House's investigation of the President's solicitation of Ukrainian interference in the 2020 election."

Owner of the Urban Taqueria in Albuquerque said the politcal names are meant to "keep the conversation going."

Assange was too ill to appear via video link for a hearing in U.K. court over extradition to the United States.

Assange faces a maximum of five years in prison if convicted of the conspiracy charge levied against him last month and a potential ten-year prison sentence for each of the charges today under the Espionage Act.

The WikiLeaks founder said he would not be extradited "for doing journalism that has won many, many awards and protected many people." 

"Everything they put out about Hillary Clinton was true," the president's personal lawyer said. "In other words, they didn't make things up.

"Ecuador has made these allegations to justify the unlawful and extraordinary act of letting police come inside an embassy," said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's lawyer.

"First and foremost, Washington is behind Assange's prosecution," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

"In just a few years he went from Bond villain to crowd-surfing hobbit. But the important part of the story isn't how he was arrested. It's why he was arrested," said TV host Trevor Noah.

Hannity—who once invited Assange to host his radio show—said the activist's case brings up "a fascinating legal issue about the freedom of the press in this country."

"I know nothing about Wikileaks. It's not my thing," Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday. "I love WikiLeaks," the president said in 2016.

An indictment lodged against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange alleges that he needed the help of intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to breach the U.S. government's database.

"WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks," Donald Trump said during an October 2016 campaign rally.

"The hand of 'democracy' squeezes the throat of freedom," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook.

The U.K. said it would not extradite the WikiLeaks founder to the U.S. if he were to face the death penalty.

"Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the U.K.'s secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of—like it or not—award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books," Edward Snowden said.

The Metropolitan Police Service arrested Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday morning, following a U.S. extradition request.