Julian Assange says he is "not an idiot" and will not be leaving the Ecuadorian embassy any time soon, despite a pledge on social media that he would "agree to US prison".
Speaking to Channel Ten's The Project on Tuesday night, Assange - who founded secret-leaking organisation WikiLeaks - was asked about his offer to go to the US if clemency was granted to Chelsea Manning.
![Julian Assange speaks to <i>The Project</i> on Tuesday night.](/web/20170126174635im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/y/0/2/8/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtxyv3.png/1485253387975.jpg)
Manning had been sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of military documents. Last week, then-US president Barack Obama commuted her sentence, meaning she will be released in May.
If Obama grants Manning clemency, Assange will agree to US prison in exchange -- despite its clear unlawfulness https://t.co/MZU30S3Eia
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) September 15, 2016
![Assange spoke to Waleed Aly from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.](/web/20170126174635im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/y/0/2/d/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtxyv3.png/1485253387975.jpg)
Assange said he and his lawyers would now have a discussion with the US Department of Justice about the investigation against him over Manning's leaks, to see if there is "some way ... to drop it" or if he will be extradited to the United States.
"What are you going to do with this case? Are you going to keep it going?" Assange said he would ask investigators.
"Am I going to have to stay here in the embassy forever? Is there some way that you guys can drop it? Or can we look at under what circumstances I would be extradited to the United States?"
The United States has not filed any charges against Assange.
He has lived in the embassy since June 2012, after a court ordered his arrest and extradition to Sweden on suspicion of rape and molestation. He was interviewed about the allegations in November.
Assange said Manning's "liberation" was a "major strategic victory", however it wasn't a result of his offer - so there was no need for him to immediately agree to extradition.
"I'm not an idiot," he said. "Saying I'm willing to accept extradition doesn't mean I'm saying that I'm willing to be a complete idiot and throw all my lawyers away and so on. No, we're going to have a discussion with the DoJ [Department of Justice] about what that looks like. The ball is in their court."
The 45-year-old Australian said that, from the US government's perspective, reducing Manning's sentence would make life harder for him, which meant it was "OK".
"If we give Chelsea Manning clemency, what's the result? It's going to make life hard for Assange," Assange said.
"Either he's going to get extradited to the United States or we're going to show he's a liar, and both of those things are going to make life hard for Assange, and therefore it's OK to pardon Chelsea Manning, and that's what happened."
In the wide-ranging interview, Assange reiterated previous denials that Democratic Party emails leaked to WikiLeaks were "not [from] a member of the Russian government".
He said it was hypocritical for Democrats to be "utterly savage and disgusting" about the leaks when they had previously supported him, but "that's politics".
When asked if he cared about the motivation of those who leaked the emails to him, he repeatedly said: "we care".
"We care. We care, in a variety of different ... it can vary, but we care," Assange responded.
Julian AssangeWaleed asks WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange if he will leave the Ecuadorian Embassy, discusses his sources and why he has organised a tour. | WATCH the full interview here: http://bit.ly/2iZeh2l
Posted by The Project on Monday, 23 January 2017