Talk of Assange pardon worries intelligence community

A GOP lawmaker's suggestion that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could be pardoned by President Trump is being eyed warily by people in the intelligence community.

While a pardon for Assange seems unlikely, Trump has offered praise for WikiLeaks and Assange's own efforts to question U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia sought to influence last year's presidential election.

As such, the idea is being taken seriously in intelligence quarters.

"It would send a terrible message to the intelligence community," said Robert Deitz, a former senior counselor to the director of the CIA and general counsel at the National Security Agency.


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"What moral are people supposed to draw from that? Why on Earth would you believe Julian Assange before the intelligence community?"


Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who has come under scrutiny for his own ties to Russia, is behind the Assange pardon push.



https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/policy/technology/348773-could-trump-pardon-assange%3famp