WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was arrested early Thursday at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, is a "hero" whose organization published information the world had a right to see, Judge Andrew Napolitano said.
"I have to tell you, in my opinion, Julian Assange is a hero," the Fox News senior judicial analyst told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" Thursday. "What he published was truthful information that the American public and the world had the right to see. He is a publisher just like we are."
Show co-host Brian Kilmeade responded that Assange "exposed State Department secrets the world had no business seeing," as WikiLeaks exposed private messages, which could cause hinder the parties' communications.
"I agree that will diminish the private communications," said Napolitano. "[But] just as if we working for Fox News received secret information, my God. the public has to know. The person who gave it to us commits the crime; the publisher does not commit the crime."
Assange was dragged out of the embassy, where he has remained under asylum for the past seven years, because he believes if he cooperated, he might have waived his claim to unlawful arrest, said Napolitano.
However, there was no basis to arrest Assange in London for charges he faced in Sweden for sexual assault, said Napolitano.
"He apparently has been charged with something in the United States," said Napolitano. "He will probably be extradited here. We will see the indictment, and we will probably have a show trial."
He added that Assange is found guilty, "I don't think he will see the light of day again."
Napolitano also predicted that Assange will not answer questions about how he got documents, including Hillary Clinton's emails, because he will claim to be protected by the First Amendment.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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