The Wall Street Journal is reporting the U.S. Justice Department and lawyers for Julian Assange have had preliminary discussions about a possible plea deal that could lead to the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder being released from prison. However Assange’s legal team says they have been given no indication that the Justice Department intends to resolve the case. Assange has been held in London’s Belmarsh Prison since 2019 awaiting possible extradition to the United States, where he faces up to 175 years in prison for publishing classified documents exposing U.S. war crimes.