GOP senator: Assange ‘deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison’

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) is applauding the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange by British police acting on a U.S. extradition warrant.

“This arrest is good news for freedom-loving people. Julian Assange has long been a wicked tool of Vladimir Putin and the Russian intelligence services,” Sasse said in a tweet early Thursday. “He deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison,” the senator added.

This arrest is good news for freedom-loving people. Julian Assange has long been a wicked tool of Vladimir Putin and the Russian intelligence services. He deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.https://t.co/LJAQeKhrj6 https://t.co/LQpoOoTv1y

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) April 11, 2019

{mosads}Assange, who published hacked emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee in 2016, had been living in the Embassy of Ecuador in London under asylum protection since 2012.

Ecuador’s president, Lenín Moreno, said Ecuador had revoked Assange’s asylum status after he violated unspecified international conventions and daily protocols.

Assange fled to the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges. He was also wanted at the time by U.S. officials for WikiLeaks’ role in publishing tens of thousands of classified and sensitive documents and cables provided by then-Private Bradley Manning, who is now known as Chelsea Manning.