STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Julian Assange's email is down. The founder of WikiLeaks is in Ecuador's embassy in London, avoiding extradition to Sweden. Yesterday, the Ecuadorian government said it has cut off Assange's internet access, even though his asylum is still good. Steven Erlanger is covering the story. He's the London bureau chief for The New York Times. He joins us via Skype. Welcome to the program.
STEVEN ERLANGER: Thank you.
INSKEEP: Why did Ecuador do this?
ERLANGER: Well, they did it because, I think, they decided that Hillary Clinton was going to win the election, and they felt that they were going to be on the wrong side of the new president, given that Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have been the conduit for all these hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta.
So the president of Ecuador, who is a very strong man of the left, basically decided that Ecuador should not interfere in the domestic politics of another country. So as soon as WikiLeaks had posted Clinton's speeches to Goldman Sachs, they cut off his internet access in the embassy.
Now, that didn't stop WikiLeaks from issuing more of these emails on Monday, presumably out of Berlin or other places where they continue to have internet access. But I think it was a gesture from Ecuador, which was probably feeling some sort of potential pressure if not actual pressure from the Clinton campaign to stop this interference.
INSKEEP: I gather the statement put out by Ecuador doesn't explicitly accuse Julian Assange of trying to change the U.S. election, but that's clearly the drift of the statement.
ERLANGER: Yes, I mean, interfering in another country's domestic politics, that's absolutely right.
INSKEEP: Do you have any indication that the United States government, which wants to talk to Assange, reached out to the Ecuadorian government and said, look, you people have to do something?
ERLANGER: WikiLeaks accused John Kerry himself of meeting with Ecuador in September on the sidelines of the Colombia Farc negotiations and asking Ecuador to intervene. We asked the State Department directly about that, and they denied it explicitly.
INSKEEP: Do you have any idea of what the endgame would be, by which I mean the circumstances under which Julian Assange would finally walk out of that embassy?
ERLANGER: Well, one can imagine the endgame. Now, it's important to remember that he has not been charged with any offense. I mean, Sweden wants him for questioning on allegations of what, in Swedish, is termed minor rape. Assange says that he's afraid that Sweden will simply send him to the United States to be charged with espionage. There's no open indictment of him in the United States.
But what could happen is that, in November 14, unless it gets delayed again, the Swedes will question him and then make a judgment about whether to bring charges. If they choose not to bring charges, which is possible, he, presumably, then would be a free person. There would be no reason for the British to arrest him, and he could walk outside. Now, that may be his worst nightmare. It's hard to know.
INSKEEP: Why would walking outside be his worst nightmare?
ERLANGER: Because suddenly he - no one would pay much attention to him anymore.
INSKEEP: Steven Erlanger is London bureau chief for The New York Times. Thanks very much.
ERLANGER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.