Julian Assange Lawyers Say Trump Offered Pardon Over DNC Hack If He ‘Played Ball’

Julian Assange’s lawyers told a London court that they will provide evidence that U.S. President Donald Trump was prepared to offer the WikiLeaks founder a pardon if he “played ball” about leaks of Democratic National Committee emails.

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.

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.

The White House on Wednesday denied such an offer had been made to Assange.

“The President barely knows Dana Rohrabacher other than he’s an ex-congressman,” Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement. “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.”

Trump has shown a willingness to grant pardons to political allies and well-connected individuals convicted of white-collar crimes. He issued a slew of such clemencies on Tuesday, including to former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of public corruption in 2011 and was serving a 14-year sentence, and financier Michael Milken, who was convicted of securities fraud in 1990 and served 22 months in prison. Milken’s pardon, in particular, was backed by many longtime Trump allies.

The DNC has accused Trump of conspiring with Russia and WikiLeaks to hack then-presidential opponent Hillary Clinton’s emails in the run-up to the 2016 election. A U.S. district judge tossed a lawsuit brought by the DNC last year, but questions continue about Trump’s relationship with Russia.

Rohrabacher, who represented a district in California’s Orange County from 1988 until he was defeated by Democrat Harley Rouda in 2018, was known as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strongest defender in Congress. Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told colleagues in 2016 that he thought both Trump and Rohrabacher might be on Putin’s payroll, though he later said he was joking.

Trump strongly supported Rohrabacher in his reelection bid.

The U.S. has charged Assange with 18 counts related to endangering national security by conspiring to obtain and disclose classified information. He’s accused of working with former U.S. Army intelligence officer Chelsea Manning to get classified documents from databases containing about 90,000 Afghanistan war-related activity reports, 400,000 Iraq war-related reports and 250,000 State Department cables.

The Australian has been in London’s Belmarsh prison since he was evicted from the Ecuadorian embassy where he sought refuge after skipping bail to avoid questioning in a Swedish sexual-assault case in April. The case was dropped in November after Swedish prosecutors said the allegations had been weakened as the memories of witnesses faded.

Assange appeared via video link and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth. His extradition trial will begin next week before adjourning until May for a further three-week hearing.

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