Donald Trump offered Julian Assange a 'win-win' deal to avoid extradition if he disclosed the source behind leaked Democratic party emails, a court heard today.
Jennifer Robinson, one the lawyer's representing the WikiLeaks founder, said Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and Trump associate Charles Johnson acted as conduits for the President to tout an arrangement.
They said Assange, 49, would be left alone to 'get on with his life' if he revealed the DNC hacking source, which was of 'value' to Mr Trump, Ms Robinson claimed.
Assange is fighting extradition to the US following the leaks of hundreds of thousands of classified documents in 2010 and 2011.
At his extradition hearing at the Old Bailey today, Ms Robinson made a statement in which she recalled a meeting with the pair on August 15, 2017 at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where Assange was holed up until being turfed out last year.
She said: 'They stated that President Trump was aware of and had approved of them coming to meet with Mr Assange to discuss a proposal - and that they would have an audience with the president to discuss the matter on their return to Washington DC.
'Congressman Rohrabacher explained he wanted to resolve the ongoing speculation about Russian involvement in the Democratic National Committee leaks to WikiLeaks, which were published by WikiLeaks and other media organisations in 2016.
'He stated that he regarded the ongoing speculation as damaging to US-Russian relations, that it was reviving Cold War politics, and that it would be in the best interests of the US if the matter could be resolved.
'He and Mr Johnson also explained that any information from Mr Assange about the source of the DNC leaks would be of interest, value and assistance to Mr Trump.'
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Absolutely no doubt the information came from the young DNC staffer, named Seth Rich; strange how ALL the information concerning his murder just "vanished"; even more strange - -his own parents don't want the killer(s) found. You have to wonder "who, or what" threatened them??
Yes!
Way better Deal than seth Rich received... ie A bicycle rack named after Him. :/
This should be interesting to watch.
As long as Rohrabacher is on the case we are all good. He is one great patriot beloved by his constituents and the country.
Assange may not be a saint, but he sure fits the description of "whistleblower". If he has actually committed any crimes he would be wise to cut the best deal he can, and perhaps help the Trump administration to prove what really happened in the lead up to the 2016 election and to expose the Clinton and DNC political machine corruption.
Free Julian, he revealed the corrupt DNC and should be given a thank you at least. If those clowns at the DNC have a crap about security, they wouldn't have been in that position. Along with Hillary's server that let her coherse heads of state for pay for play. Lock her up.
This man did us all a great service, and he should be left alone to live his life. He has given enough!
I could call her a bunch of other names but I will be nice.