‘American Friends’ Plotted to Kidnap Assange From Embassy

(Bloomberg) -- Officials at a private security agency that was meant to be guarding the Ecuadorean embassy in London were actually carrying out a very different task: spying on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, according to a court filing.

Staff discussed a plot to kidnap the Australian from his hideout in the building. CCTV cameras were changed to allow for sound recording. Fire extinguishers were bugged.

The allegations were made in written testimony of a former employee of the Spanish security firm at a hearing where Assange is fighting attempts to have him extradited to the U.S. The activities were carried out at the behest of “American friends,” the employee of UC Global, whose identity wasn't released by the London court, said in a legal filing Wednesday.

The agency was “acting on the instructions of U.S. intelligence,” Mark Summers, Assange's attorney, said in a separate filing.

Assange lived in the embassy for seven years before he was expelled early last year. The U.S. has charged Assange with endangering national security by conspiring with Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to get classified documents. But his lawyers have repeatedly argued that the U.S. request is politically motivated.

Staff at UC Global, which had a contract to provide security for the embassy, discussed a plan in December 2017 to leave a door of the building open. That “would allow the argument that this had been an accidental mistake,” and would allow someone to kidnap Assange, the operative said.

It was the director of the agency who was said to have orchestrated the surveillance, according to the legal filings. The director, David Morales, was friendly with casino mogul Sheldon Adelson's security chief, who may have served as a go-between for U.S. intelligence officials, one ex-worker said. UC Global also provided security for Adelson's luxury boat while it was sailing in the Mediterranean, the UC Global worker said.

A spokeswoman for Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Corp. didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.

While some of the details of the spying were recently aired in a Spanish court case, it's the first time they have been discussed in the English extradition hearing.

The gathering of information at the embassy was stepped up after Donald Trump was elected president, when security staff were asked to replace the CCTV cameras with some that also recorded audio.

One employee was asked to place a microphone in the holder of a fire extinguisher in a meeting room and another one in the toilet, according to a legal filing. UC Global bosses wanted to record Assange's meetings with visitors, especially those of his defense attorneys, the operative said.

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