Wondering about the US extradition request. I dislike Assange but want to point out some potential elements in any trial.
The US aren't extraditing him for the hacking of Clinton, as far as I can tell. So even if he was essentially a Russian cutout during the last election, this isn't what this is about.
It's a charge re hacking the US military during the Iraq War, or material related to that. Probably seems particularly serious in the US. But a defence may claim the war was illegal under international law, due to its fake premise. And that the acts revealed showed the US military murdering innocent people. And so they will claim the ends justified the means. Those images of the helicopter gunman killing the journalist will be shown over and over. It won't look good.
It's kinda creepy to extradite Assange on one charge while keeping others secret. Given concerns about US justice these days, I wonder if foreign courts will be as accommodating as they used to be. The US has a partisan AG, willing to do what suits Trump. Trump's interest is to silence Assange. Not a good look from a UK perspective. It would be better to reveal the other charges, or folks may think this isn't a square deal.
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