Richard Burr: Assange Put 'Millions of Lives at Risk All Over the World'

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Thursday that WikiLeaks founder should “face justice” for “putting millions of lives at risk,” The Hill reports.

Assange was arrested on Thursday by British authorities at the Ecuador embassy in London. The U.S. has requested his extradition for using his website to leak classified information.

“Under the guise of transparency, Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have effectively acted as an arm of the Russian intelligence services for years. Mr. Assange engaged in a conspiracy to steal classified information, putting millions of lives at risk all over the world. Hopefully, he will now face justice,” Burr said in a statement.

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence panel, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, echoed Burr in a statement of his own.

“Julian Assange has long professed high ideals and moral superiority. Unfortunately, whatever his intentions when he started WikiLeaks, what he’s really become is a direct participant in Russian efforts to undermine the West and a dedicated accomplice in efforts to undermine American security," Warner said, according to The Hill.

"It is my hope that the British courts will quickly transfer him to U.S. custody so he can finally get the justice he deserves,” he added.

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