Julian Assange Could Be Turned Over To U.K. Authorities Soon …

Julian Assange, the controversial founder of WikiLeaks, may soon be forced out of Ecuadors embassy in London and turned over to British authorities, according to a new report.

Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno is set to finalize an agreement with the U.K. government to lift Assanges asylum status,The Intercepts Glenn Greenwaldreported, citing a source within the Ecuadors foreign ministry.

Assange has been holed up in the embassy since 2012,after he fled Sweden over allegations of sexual assault and rape.Though prosecutors dropped the case last year, he still faces arrest for breaching bail conditions should he leave the embassy.

And his work using WikiLeaks to publish thousands of classified documents could see him facing more charges in the U.S.

U.S. intelligence agencies believe that WikiLeaks coordinated with Russian hackersto release emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election. Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating connections between WikiLeaks and Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to Donald Trump before he became president.

PA Wire/PA ImagesJulian Assange, pictured at Ecuador's embassy in London in May 2017.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said last April that the arrest of Assange wouldbecome a priorityfor the Justice Department. And as Greenwald points out, if the U.S.seeks to extradite Assange from the U.K. for trial, Assange could go to prison for years to come.

In January, the British governmentrejected a requestfrom Ecuador to grant diplomatic status to Assange.Ecuadors foreign minister has said Assanges long-term stay in her countrys Londonembassy is untenable.

Ecuador knows that the way to resolve this issue is for Julian Assange to leave the embassy to face justice, the U.K.s Foreign Office said in a statement at the time.

Moreno has previously called Assange a hacker and a stone in the shoe.

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Julian Assange Could Be Turned Over To U.K. Authorities Soon ...