Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
WaPo: The White House denies Julian Assange's pardon claim. Here's what we know about it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/19/white-house-denies-julian-assanges-pardon-claim-heres-what-we-know-about-it/
By Aaron Blake
Feb. 19, 2020 at 3:40 p.m. EST
A day after President Trump issued executive clemency to 11 people including former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, another potential Trump pardon is in the news.
This one: For Julian Assange.
Assange’s lawyers claimed in a London court Wednesday that they would provide evidence that then-Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) promised Assange a pardon or some other favor related to a U.S. prosecution if he provided information absolving Russia of responsibility for hacking Democratic Party emails in 2016.
Assange’s lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, said he had a statement from another Assange lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, that 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.”
As with all claims by Assange, it’s worth skepticism and careful assessment.
The first thing to note is that Assange’s credibility is very questionable, and he has plenty of reason to make such an allegation. He is fighting extradition to the United States, and one of the ways you can beat extradition is by arguing that you are being targeted politically. This would seem to feed into such an effort.
</snip>
By Aaron Blake
Feb. 19, 2020 at 3:40 p.m. EST
A day after President Trump issued executive clemency to 11 people including former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, another potential Trump pardon is in the news.
This one: For Julian Assange.
Assange’s lawyers claimed in a London court Wednesday that they would provide evidence that then-Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) promised Assange a pardon or some other favor related to a U.S. prosecution if he provided information absolving Russia of responsibility for hacking Democratic Party emails in 2016.
Assange’s lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, said he had a statement from another Assange lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, that 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.”
As with all claims by Assange, it’s worth skepticism and careful assessment.
The first thing to note is that Assange’s credibility is very questionable, and he has plenty of reason to make such an allegation. He is fighting extradition to the United States, and one of the ways you can beat extradition is by arguing that you are being targeted politically. This would seem to feed into such an effort.
</snip>
I know this has been posted previously - this is aggregated info about the whole story so far.
10 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
...since he would've had to walk thru the front door of the Ecuadoran Embassy to do so. And, Assange is a notoriously sneaky little fucker, so he might've recorded it?
That said, Rohrabacher might have been talking out of his ass about a pardon being available for him. 
