Facing a prison sentence of up to 175 years, one of the highest-profile players in the 2016 presidential election claimed he received an enticing offer from then-candidate Donald Trump by way of a California congressman.
Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a London court on Wednesday that Trump tendered a pardon deal for Assange contingent on him denying that Russia stole emails from the Democratic National Committee that were leaked by his organization ahead of the presidential election. Some of the emails showed DNC research director Lauren Dillon talking with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer about crafting questions for Trump ahead of an interview.
Assange, who claimed asylum inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for seven years, was dragged out of the government consulate in April and is now facing charges that he colluded with Russian intelligence to influence the 2016 election.
Julian Assange court appearance today- His lawyer mentioned a statement, that alleges former US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher visited Assange, saying he was there on behalf of the President, offering a pardon if JA would say Russia had nothing to do with DNC leaks. @SBSNews
— Ben Lewis (@benlewismedia) February 19, 2020
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard from Assange’s lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, that former Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher attempted to broker the deal on behalf of Trump while Assange was still living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in April 2017.
Fitzgerald told the court that a statement from another Assange lawyer shows “Mr. Rohrabacher going to see Mr. Assange and saying, on instructions from the president, he was offering a pardon or some other way out, if Mr. Assange … said Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks.”
In 2018, special counsel Robert Mueller published his report on Russian election interference, which spoke of a highly sophisticated network of communication between WikiLeaks and the Russian Directorate of the General Staff, or GRU, working in tandem to uncover and disburse emails from the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign. WikiLeaks previously denied any involvement with Russian intelligence.
Mueller’s investigation found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Assange was recently exonerated by the Swedish government regarding alleged sexual assault, but the Australian is wanted by the United States on 18 charges, including conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.
Trump granted clemency for several political allies on Tuesday, which led to renewed calls from Assange supporters for the WikiLeaks founder to be pardoned.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham denied Assange’s claims, saying the accusations were a “complete fabrication and a total lie.”
Grisham on Assange: “The President barely knows Dana Rohrabacher other than he’s an ex-congressman. He’s never spoken to him on this subject or almost any subject. It is a complete fabrication and a total lie. This is probably another never ending hoax and total lie from the DNC”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) February 19, 2020
