Republicans are split on whether to celebrate or condemn the freeing of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Assange reached a plea deal with the Department of Justice on Monday, setting him free after five years in a U.K. prison. The news was met with polarized responses among Republicans, with some jubilant and others apoplectic.
Leading the pack of Republicans celebrating the deal were Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
“I’m relieved Assange is finally free and reuniting with his family after years of wrongful persecution,” Paul posted on X. “Yet, this plea deal sets a dangerous precedent, criminalizing journalism and damaging our First Amendment rights. The ‘Land of the Free’ can and must do better.”
Greene delivered a more succinct response.
“Praise God! Julian Assange is at home with his family!!” she posted.
Other Republicans had the opposite reaction, denouncing the Australian national as a “traitor.”
“Assange is a traitor,” former Rep. Adam Kinzinger posted on X, responding to a post calling Assange a “Russian asset.”
“Julian Assange endangered the lives of our troops in a time of war and should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” former Vice President Mike Pence said. “The Biden administration’s plea deal with Assange is a miscarriage of justice and dishonors the service and sacrifice of the men and women of our Armed Forces and their families. There should be no plea deals to avoid prison for anyone that endangers the security of our military or the national security of the United States. Ever.”
Pence’s remarks weren’t well-received on X, with over three times more comments than likes. The top comment, from author Michael Malice, said that the former vice president belongs “in Gitmo.”
“Bulls***! Julian Assange exposed the corruption of you and your cronies,” former top Trump aide Roger Stone replied.
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Assange was wanted by the United States for disseminating hundreds of thousands of classified documents, many relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Arguably his most famous leak was titled “Collateral Murder,” which showed a U.S. Apache attack helicopter mistaking a group of journalists and bystanders in Baghdad for insurgents, firing on and killing around a dozen people in July 2007.
WikiLeaks’s work has been highly controversial, especially among Republicans, who are split as to whether the leaks amount to free speech or espionage.
