According to WikiLeaks, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee has called on WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange to testify.

According to a tweet from the official WikiLeaks Twitter account, WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange has been called to testify before the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. WikiLeaks says its legal team is “considering the offer but the conditions must conform to a high ethical standard.”

BREAKING: US Senate Intelligence Committee calls editor @JulianAssange to testify. Letter delivered via US embassy in London. WikiLeaks' legal team say they are "considering the offer but the conditions must conform to a high ethical standard". Also: https://t.co/pPf0GTjTlp pic.twitter.com/gQIUstbGbq — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 8, 2018

The letter allegedly sent by the U.S. Intelligence Committee reads:

Dear Mr. Assange: As you are aware, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is conducting a bipartisan inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections. As part of that inquiry, the Committee requests that you make yourself available for a closed interview with bipartisan Committee staff at a mutually agreeable time and location. Please respond in writing upon receipt of this letter. If you have any questions about this letter, please contact Committee counsel at 202-224-1700. Sincerely, Richard Burr, Chairman Mark R. Warner, Vice Chairman

The tweet from WikiLeaks references an article by Human Rights Watch from June titled “UK Should Reject Extraditing Julian Assange to US.” The article argues that Assange should not face extradition to the U.S. and that the U.K. government should remove the threat of complying with any extradition orders against Assange.

The article states:

While some admire and others despise Assange, no one should be prosecuted under the antiquated Espionage Act for publishing leaked government documents. That 1917 statute was designed to punish people who leaked secrets to a foreign government, not to the media, and allows no defense or mitigation of punishment on the basis that public interest served by some leaks may outweigh any harm to national security. The US grand jury investigation of Assange under the Espionage Act was apparently based on his publishing the leaks for which Chelsea Manning, a former US army soldier, was convicted. Her sentence was commuted. The publication of leaks—particularly leaks that show potential government wrongdoing or human rights abuse—is a critical function of a free press in a democratic society. The vague and sweeping provisions of the Espionage Act remain ready to be used against other publishers and journalists, whether they be Wikileaks or the New York Times.

The article finishes by calling for the UK government to remove the threat of possible extradition: