London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 31, 2025

Julian Assange's Attorneys Claimed Trump Offered Him A Pardon If He Cleared Russia Of Meddling In The 2016 Election

Julian Assange's Attorneys Claimed Trump Offered Him A Pardon If He Cleared Russia Of Meddling In The 2016 Election

A Republican defender of the Russian president visited Assange when he was living in Ecuador's London embassy - allegedly with an offer from President Trump.
Attorneys for Julian Assange claimed Wednesday that President Donald Trump offered a pardon to the WikiLeaks founder if Assange would say that Russia was not involved in the 2016 hacking of emails from the Democratic National Committee.

According to British media in court, Assange's attorneys said the message of a possible deal was relayed to him by former Republican lawmaker Dana Rohrabacher in 2017, when the California politician traveled to London to meet with Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy.

However, Rohrabacher himself soon disputed their account.

Assange's attorney said the deal was offered to him by Rohrabacher "on instructions from the president."

"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," Assange's lawyer Jennifer Robinson said in a statement, according to the Guardian.

The claim was made during a pre-extradition hearing, where lawyers representing Assange have argued he should not be extradited to the United States to face federal charges for an alleged conspiracy. The charges say Assange colluded with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to solicit and publish classified information related to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

After reports of the claim were published, Rohrabacher released a statement saying he had not been directed by Trump to meet with Assange, but "was on my own searching out information I thought was important to the country when I visited Assange."

"At no time did I offer Julian Assange anything from the President because I had not spoken with the President about this issue at all," Rohrabacher said. "However, when speaking with Julian Assange, I told him that if he could provide me information and evidence about who actually gave him the DNC emails, I would then call on President Trump to pardon him."

Rohrabacher said he did not "offer a deal made by the President, nor did I say I was representing the President."

Once he returned from London, Rohrabacher said he contacted then–chief of staff John Kelly to let him know that Assange would provide information about the DNC hack "in exchange for a pardon," but he said that no one from the White House followed up on his call.

Attorneys for Assange have been making the argument that the criminal case against him in the US is politically motivated and, therefore, he should not be extradited.

Assange's attorneys did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' inquiries.

Representatives at the White House told BuzzFeed News that Trump "barely knows Dana Rohrabacher other than he's an ex-congressman."

The White House spokesperson said the pardon claim was a "complete fabrication" that was "probably another never-ending hoax and total lie from the DNC."

Rohrabacher, who was voted out of office in 2018 after representing portions of Orange County for 20 years, has spoken publicly about meeting with Assange and talking to Kelly.

The Wall Street Journal reported in September 2017 that Rohrabacher tried to broker the deal just a few weeks after meeting with Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

"He would get nothing, obviously, if what he gave us was not proof," the Wall Street Journal reported Rohrabacher told the White House.

Rohrabacher would not confirm details of the conversation to the Wall Street Journal, but he told local news outlet KCAL 9, after the report was published, that he had been in conversations with both parties to see "what can be offered."

Dubbed "Putin's favorite congressman" by Republican leaders during a recorded conversation, Rohrabacher has been a defender of the Russian leader in Congress and met in 2016 with Kremlin-linked Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya, who met Trump campaign officials in Trump Tower to discuss "dirt" on Hillary Clinton.

Before leaving Congress, Rohrabacher had said he was looking to disprove that Russia had colluded with the Trump campaign in the 2016 election, and establish that Assange had told him that Russia had not been the source of the Wikileaks DNC emails.

US intelligence agencies have determined Russia hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and provided them to Wikileaks to publish the embarrassing material.

Former special counsel Robert Mueller, whose team investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election, testified in Congress that the Russian government saw a Trump victory as beneficial.

Despite the consensus in the intelligence community, Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on the determination.

During a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in September, Trump asked about "CrowdStrike" and "the server, they say Ukraine has it" - references to a debunked conspiracy that Ukraine, not Russia, meddled in the US election.

CrowdStrike, a company that provided security and cyberattack response services to the DNC, determined Russian-backed hackers broke into the DNC network. The debunked conspiracy claimed the determination was instead made to taint Trump's presidential victory and to blame Russia for the hack.

Assange's extradition hearing is expected to begin Monday.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×