Roger Stone, the former Trump adviser whose claimed contact with WikiLeaks put him in the crosshairs of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, says President Trump should pardon WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange to defend press freedom.
“Journalists everywhere should be disturbed if Assange is kidnapped and put on trial. It is a blow to independent journalism and a free press,” Stone told the Washington Examiner, as Assange’s future becomes increasingly uncertain.
Stone cited a conclusion by Obama administration officials that prosecuting Assange for publishing classified information could set a precedent allowing for prosecution of journalists employed by traditional news outlets.
“Even the Obama Justice Department concluded Assange did nothing the New York Times and Washington Post have not done, which is obtain classified information through whistleblowers, verifying its authenticity and publishing it,” Stone said.
The veteran GOP operative is a central figure of intrigue into whether the Trump campaign worked with Russia to release damaging Democratic information through WikiLeaks. Stone repeatedly said in 2016 that he communicated with the document publisher through an intermediary, later identified as radio host Randy Credico, but denies wrongdoing.
Assange, who denied Stone had a “back channel,” appears poised to lose asylum in Ecuador’s London embassy, where he has lived six years — first to avoid questioning for alleged sex crimes in Sweden, and now to avoid arrest in the U.K. for violating bail conditions. Assange claims his legal issues are part of a U.S. extradition plot related to his publishing of classified information provided in 2010 by then-Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning.
Ecuador’s president said in a recent interview he’s negotiating Assange’s fate with British authorities. Stone, meanwhile, may be in legal jeopardy himself relating to his alleged contact with WikiLeaks. Last week, Stone’s longtime associate, “Manhattan madam” Kristin Davis, was subpoenaed by Mueller. His former aide Sam Nunberg vowed in March to defy a subpoena to protect Stone from perjury charges, before cooperating.
“If Assange is extradited, I hope the president will pardon him before or after a trial,” Stone said. But, he said, “Perhaps Trump won’t pardon Assange before a trial because he believes Assange will prove at trial that he did not receive the allegedly hacked [Democratic National Committee documents] from the Russians or a cut-out for them.”
Assange says he won’t name his source for Democratic emails, but denies it was Russia’s government. Last August, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., met Assange and then attempted to discuss with Trump a pardon for Assange in exchange for information proving Russia was not responsible. White House chief of staff John Kelly frustrated Rohrabacher’s efforts. As of Wednesday, Rohrabacher still hasn’t discussed the proposal with Trump, a spokesman said.
Stone said he has not spoken with Trump about pardoning Assange, but that he has recommended to Trump pardons for black nationalist Marcus Garvey, who died in 1940, the ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond, who Trump pardoned this month, and members of the Bundy family, acquitted of charges over an armed standoff in support of the Hammonds.
Wielding the Constitution’s clemency powers, Trump could prevent a prosecution of Assange, or anyone else facing federal charges. So far, he has chosen not to issue any pardons connected to Mueller’s work, though he has voiced increasing frustration with its continuation.
On Wednesday, Trump issued a direct attack on Twitter, writing: “This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!”
Giving Assange a pardon in the name of press freedom would strike some journalists as ironic, given Trump often is harsh critic of news outlets, dubbing them “fake news” and “the enemy of the people.” But it would also allow him to poke in the eye anti-Trump former spy agency leaders, with whom Assange has clashed for years.
There’s no federal law protecting journalists from charges relating to their work. The Senate passed a “journalism shield” bill in 2013, but only after it was modified at the urging of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to exclude WikiLeaks. “We’re very careful in this bill to distinguish journalists from those who shouldn’t be protected, WikiLeaks and all those, and we’ve ensured that,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., now the Senate minority leader, said at the time.
Assange’s open antagonism toward the U.S. national security establishment resulted in WikiLeaks being branded by some officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as a “non-state hostile intelligence service.”
“WikiLeaks has published information deeply embarrassing to the deep state,” Stone said. “We know for example that the CIA knows how to execute the hack of a computer system and leave fingerprints pointing to a third party in the hack.”
Stone said he doesn’t personally need a pardon, despite significant media speculation that he’s also in trouble. “Pardon me? I haven’t been charged with any offense,” he said.
