State Dept Official Dodges Flurry Of Questions About WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange's Plea Deal

4 months ago

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller refused to comment on Julian Assange reaching a plea deal to avoid jail time in the United States.

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Transcript

00:00I thought we'd get around there eventually.

00:07I sort of expected you were going to say it's an ongoing judicial matter.

00:11But you're going to ask anyway.

00:13What was the value of, what was the importance for the United States of reaching a plea deal with him?

00:18Why was it important to settle this?

00:20So you're right. It is an ongoing judicial matter.

00:23And so I am really limited in what I can say where I can't really say anything about that.

00:27I know that the Justice Department has published court documents related to this case.

00:31I know he's scheduled to appear in court in the coming hours.

00:34And given that it is a pending case that is about to go before a federal judge,

00:38I think it's appropriate for me to not comment on the matter at this time.

00:42Sure. I'll try a little bit more.

00:44But obviously he's an Australian citizen.

00:46Can you talk about the nature of discussions between the United States and Australia at the diplomatic level?

00:50Was this important to resolve for the sake of the alliance between the U.S. and Australia?

00:54I think while the matter is pending, it's important for me not to comment on it at all.

00:58Maybe tomorrow I'll have more to say.

01:00But I think today I should refrain from commenting and defer to the Department of Justice.

01:04Okay. Unless anybody wants to pursue that.

01:06Can I ask a follow-up?

01:07Yeah. Go ahead.

01:08This obviously has been a source of disagreement between Australia and the United States.

01:11Do you consider that this matter is now on the cusp of being resolved?

01:15So I appreciate you trying.

01:17But I think I'm going to go back to the days when I was the Department of Justice spokesperson.

01:22And when we had a matter pending in court that was about to go for a federal judge,

01:25I think I very much would have objected to the State Department spokesperson opining on it from the podium before the matter was resolved.

01:31So I'm going to decline to do so today.

01:35And I'm sorry.

01:37Tell us what you think about having this case heard by a judge in a trench in the Pacific Ocean.

01:50I think that is a matter for the Department of Justice to comment on, not the State Department.

01:55I was wondering if this is sort of a relief for the State Department when it comes to engagement.

02:02I hate to interrupt, but I only interrupt to say you're going to get the same answer that I have given with respect to the other question.

02:10It just isn't appropriate for me, while this is pending and about to go for a federal judge, to comment on any way.

02:16The matter is not yet resolved.

02:17Once it's resolved, maybe it will be a different case, but not today.

State Dept Official Dodges Flurry Of Questions About WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange's Plea Deal

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