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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, shown during a November news conference in Switzerland, now has seen his organization's PayPal account suspended. (The Associated Press)

WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange called on the U.S. Department of Justice to end a four-year long grand jury investigation of him and WikiLeaks.

Assange's group published thousands of previously classified U.S. State Department and related documents online about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and U.S. dealings with other countries. He has been living at the Ecuadorian embassy in London for the past two years and faces the prospect of criminal charges in Sweden related to sexual misconduct allegations.

During a conference call this morning from the embassy Assange called on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to end the work of a federal grand jury looking into the work of WikiLeaks and Assange.

"It is against the stated principles of the United States and I believe the values supported by its people, to have a four-year criminal investigation against a publisher," Assange said. "The ongoing existence of that investigation produces a chilling effect, not just on internet based publishers, but all publishers."

Assange's U.S.-based attorney Michael Ratner said British officials have not recognized Ecuador's offer of asylum to Assange. Ratner called the U.S. investigation the "bear in the room." Without that investigation, Radner said, the other charges could be dealt with more easily. But under the current situation, Assange faces the prospect of being extradited to the U.S.

Ratner also said Assange has offered four times in the past two years to address questions by Swedish prosecutors about the sexual misconduct allegations. They have refused, Ratner said, leaving Assange in legal limbo.

Assange's lawyers in Sweden plan to file documents in the sexual misconduct case next week, related to newfound information, Assange's lawyers said today. They declined to say what the documents would allege.

Assange said his organization has worked with other groups to set up the Courage Foundation in Berlin, which serves as NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden's official defense fund and organizes his defense team. Assange's lawyer said WikiLeaks helped arrange Snowden's successful bid for asylum in Russia – going from Hong Kong to Mosow. Snowden's asylum request is up in a couple months, WikiLeaks officials said, and they are hopeful that request will be renewed.

Snowden's revelations about the scale of the National Security Agency's surveillance operations in the U.S. and around the world have led to calls for reform and an international outcry. Assange called on President Barack Obama to consider his legacy and his administration's role in pursuing leak investigations against U.S. journalists.

Assange said his situation is not as difficult as that faced by former U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning, who received a 35-year prison sentence after being convicted of violations of the espionage act, including copying and disseminating State Department cables, military reports and other documents.