WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a single count of conspiring to obtain and disclose information related to national defense, as part of a deal with federal prosecutors to resolve a long-standing legal battle. The plea was entered in federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an American territory in the Pacific.
Assange acknowledged that while he believed the Espionage Act under which he was charged conflicted with his First Amendment rights, he accepted that encouraging sources to provide classified information for publication could be deemed unlawful.
