The Obama administration has accused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of making "wild assertions" about his possible prosecution in the United States in a bid to deflect attention from the sex-abuse allegations that Assange is facing in Sweden.
The U.S. State Department said Assange's sex-crimes case has nothing to do with the United States or WikiLeaks' publication of secret U.S. documents in 2010 and is solely a matter for Britain, where Assange is now sheltering in the Ecuadorean Embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also berated Ecuador for granting asylum to Assange.
In a speech from the Ecuadorean Embassy on August 19, Assange proclaimed himself the victim of an American "witch hunt" and urged President Barack Obama to halt U.S. investigations of WikiLeaks and its supporters.
The U.S. State Department said Assange's sex-crimes case has nothing to do with the United States or WikiLeaks' publication of secret U.S. documents in 2010 and is solely a matter for Britain, where Assange is now sheltering in the Ecuadorean Embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also berated Ecuador for granting asylum to Assange.
In a speech from the Ecuadorean Embassy on August 19, Assange proclaimed himself the victim of an American "witch hunt" and urged President Barack Obama to halt U.S. investigations of WikiLeaks and its supporters.
