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US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump offered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a pardon if he said Russia was not involved in the leak of Democratic National Committee emails, a court has heard.
The claim emerged as Assange, aged 48, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court ahead of an extradition hearing next week.
His barrister Edward Fitzgerald QC highlighted evidence alleging former US Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher had been to see Assange, while he was still in the Ecuadorian embassy in August 2017.
He said a statement from Assange’s lawyer Jennifer Robinson 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”.
A series of emails embarrassing for the Democrats and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign were hacked before being published by WikiLeaks in 2016.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said the evidence is admissible.
Assange is wanted in America to face 18 charges, including conspiring to commit computer intrusion, over the publication of US cables a decade ago.
He could face up to 175 years in jail if found guilty.
He is accused of working with former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to leak hundreds of thousands of classified documents.
The extradition hearing is due to begin at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday, beginning with a week of legal argument.
It will then be adjourned and continue with a three weeks of evidence scheduled to begin on 18 May.
The decision, which is expected months later, is likely to be appealed against by the losing side, whatever the outcome.
Assange has been held on remand in Belmarsh prison since last September after serving a 50-week jail sentence for breaching his bail conditions while he was in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
He entered the building in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex offence allegations, which he has always denied and were subsequently dropped.
Assange appeared in court on Wednesday by videolink from Belmarsh prison, wearing dark tracksuit bottoms and a brown jumper over a white shirt.
He spoke to confirm his name and date of birth, and sat holding a stack of papers during the hearing.
The hearing came after Australian MPs George Christensen and Andrew Wilkie called on Tuesday for Boris Johnson to intervene and stop the extradition hearing.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell is expected to become the first British MP to see Assange behind bars in a visit to Belmarsh on Thursday.
At a press conference yesterday it emerged that fellow inmates at the high-security prison successfully lobbied for his release from solitary confinement.
Speaking after the press conference, Assange’s father John Shipton said his son’s condition had improved, but said the extradition going ahead would be akin to a “death sentence”.
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Uk should refuse to extradite on grounds the US diplomat’s wife who killed an English kid was not handed over to face charges.
@Perlum Sprite:
Assange is a dead man if he gets extradited, and Assange himself stated that the DNC emails did not originate from s state actor(Russia)…I’m sure Seth Rich could testify if he hadn’t been ‘Suicided’, by you know who.
@Raven: Sorry, couldn’t quite hear you with all that tinfoil on your head.
@LynchTrea:
Sorry to hear you couldn’t come up with an original argument to respond with, were you up all night thinking of that one?
Assange himself is on record stating that the emails received were not from a state actor, try harder pal.
@Raven: and he’s clearly a trustworthy lad.
Quit spreading debunked conspiracy theories about a young man who lost his life
@Adam Sheridan:
Debunked by Snopes?
Convenient that Wikileaks have had their Twitter account frozen a week before the hearing.
Trump…the gift that just keeps giving. Hahahha.
@Arya: in danish the word gift means poison… It’s also the word for marriage.
@Arya:
In fairness, this seems to be prime fake news.
Maybe this “lawyer” is not being fully honest because Assange said many times that he did NOT get the DNC emails from a state actor, so why this alleged offer by Trump?
Something is up here and someone is telling porkies.
Can’t wait to see him behind bars. Bernie 2020
I can’t believe there’s still a need for reality tv shows … the real world is soooooo much better ..
Another quid pro quo…..eh?
@Paul Furey: the art of the deal
He’s not American and his “crimes” weren’t committed in America so I really don’t understand why they have jurisdiction. Cna everyone who badmouths Xi Xinping be sent to China for execution?
Donald you skank
Why would Trump do that if he wasn’t under the influence of Putin? Spoiler: He wouldn’t. Putin has some serious goods on Trump.
@Seán Ó Briain: That’s the most insane conspiracy I’ve heard in a while! Alex Jones has nothing on you.
@Seán Ó Briain:
Bleachbit?
@Seán Ó Briain:
Wikileaks has a 100% accuracy rate, but then there’s you with “serious goods”.
Well pardon me.
Julian Assange has stated long before this visit that there was no hack , there were two leaks and there was no Russia involvement. This is nonsensical and I revert people to wiki leaks for accuracy .
If you’re good to Mamma, Mamma’s good to you
Allegedly!!!!!! You couldn’t believe a word out of Assanges mouth.
@Mairtin Antaine O Conaill: as opposed to Trump?
@Mairtin Antaine O Conaill: what planet do you live on?!! Assange is the journalist of a generation.
@Mairtin Antaine O Conaill: 100% publications verified.. Not many media outlets can say this..
Uber liberal Jimmy Dore does a good piece on this topic…
“Press misreporting Assange pardon offer from Trump”
have your say