Attorneys for Julian Assange told a London court on Wednesday that they will provide evidence that the Trump administration offered to pardon the WikiLeaks founder if he was willing to say that Russia had nothing to do with leaks of Democratic Party emails, according to Bloomberg.
During the preliminary extradition hearing, Assange’s lawyers said that former GOP congressman Dana Rohrahbacher offered the deal in 2017, one year after WikiLeaks published emails which were damaging to then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. At the time, the FBI’s ‘Russiagate’ investigation was in full swing as the agency tried in vein to prove that Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 US election.
At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, Assange’s lawyer Edward Fitzgerald asked the court to allow more witness statements during the extradition hearing that will start next week. The new information includes a witness statement by Jen Robinson, another of Assange’s lawyers, that deals with the alleged offer made by then U.S. Representative. Dana Rohrabacher, he told the court.
Trump’s new tariff plan barrels back to court following multistate lawsuit
Black Democrats Unleash on Jasmine Crockett After Embarrassing Primary Loss
Trump’s new DHS pick is an illegal immigration hawk who’s ‘all about the mission’: expert
White Police Officers Sue Philadelphia Over DEI Promotions, Say They Were Passed Over for Political Reasons
Kristi Noem’s ouster ‘changes nothing’ for Democrats blocking DHS funding
NORAD Launches US Fighter Jets as Russian Military Aircraft Enter American Air Defense Identification Zone
Virginia Dems mandate Jan. 6 be taught as ‘violent insurrection,’ ban election fraud claims in schools
Trump Turns Up Heat on Republicans, Pressures Them to Pass SAVE Act: ‘Country Defining Fight for the Soul of Our Nation!’
Pentagon policy chief grilled as Dem claims Trump broke promise about going to war with Iran
Georgia sheriff arrested on DUI charge after blood alcohol content was allegedly almost triple legal limit
Small plane crashes into Phoenix home minutes after takeoff, injuring 3
‘Third-party’ auditor investigating Minnesota fraud received millions in state Medicaid funds
Macron vows nuclear arsenal boost as Europe turns to nukes amid rising global threats
‘Under siege’: Inside the growing radical Islam threat critics say is hiding in plain sight in deep red Texas
Walz-Ellison administration ‘enabled’ Minnesota’s fraud scandal: Guy Benson
The witness statement will address “Mr. Rohrabacher going to see Mr. Assange, and saying on instructions of the president, offering pardon or some other way out if Mr. Assange played ball and said the Russians had nothing to do with” the leaks, Fitzgerald said. -Bloomberg
Assange spent nearly seven years living in the Ecuadorian embassy in Central London in order to avoid extradition to Sweden, and later the United States.
The White House has denied the claim.
Developing…
Story cited here.
