Tag: Julian Assange

‘Putin’s favorite congressman’ offered Julian Assange a pardon if he covered up Russian meddling: lawyers

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American prosecutors said this week that former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) offered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a pardon from President Donald Trump if he agreed to help cover up Russia’s role in interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

The Daily Beast reports that witness Jennifer Robinson has testified that she attended a meeting between Rohrabacher and Assange in 2017 in which he made a direct quid-pro-quo offer.

Rohrabacher was joined in the meeting by Charles Johnson, a pro-Trump racist internet troll, and the two men led officials at the Ecuadorian embassy in London to believe they were acting on behalf of the president. Continue reading.

Assange lawyer claims congressman offered pardon on behalf of Trump in exchange for absolving Russia in WikiLeaks DNC case

Washington Post logoLONDON — A lawyer for Julian Assange said in a British court Wednesday that former Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher, an ally of President Trump, made an offer to the WikiLeaks founder on behalf of Trump to pardon Assange in exchange for saying that Russia had nothing to do with the 2016 hack and leak of emails from the Democratic National Committee.

Assange is in a British prison while he awaits a decision on an extradition request by the United States. The U.S. government wants him to stand trial on charges that he violated the Espionage Act by allegedly helping to obtain and then disseminating secret government documents in 2010 and 2011 relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange is fighting the extradition — arguing that he acted as a publisher and journalist and that the United States is pursuing him for “political offenses.” He faces a possible 175-year sentence if convicted. Continue reading.

Daniel Ellsberg: Espionage Charges Against Assange Are Most Significant Attack on Press in Decades

As the Justice Department charges WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act, we speak to Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. In 1971, he was charged with violating the Espionage Act for leaking a top-secret report on U.S. involvement in Vietnam to The New York Times and other publications. At the time, Ellsberg faced over 100 years in prison. He tells Democracy Now!, “There hasn’t actually been such a significant attack on the freedom of the press … since my case in 1971.”

View the complete May 24 article with video on the Democracy Now! website here.

Julian Assange arrested in London on behalf of US

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested Thursday in London on behalf of authorities in the U.S. who charged him in the release of classified information from Chelsea Manning.

“This is an extradition warrant under Section 73 of the Extradition Act,” London’s Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement.

Assange, 47, “will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court as soon as possible,” the department added.

View the complete April 11 article by Kyle Balluck and Michael Burke on The Hill website here.

Julian Assange has been charged, prosecutors reveal inadvertently in court filing

Prosecutors inadvertently revealed that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been charged under seal, according to a recently unsealed court filing. (Drea Cornejo /The Washington Post)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been charged under seal, prosecutors inadvertently revealed in a recently unsealed court filing — a development that could significantly advance the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and have major implications for those who publish government secrets.

The disclosure came in a filing in a case unrelated to Assange. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kellen S. Dwyer, urging a judge to keep the matter sealed, wrote that “due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged.” Later, Dwyer wrote the charges would “need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested.”

Dwyer is also assigned to the WikiLeaks case. People familiar with the matter said what Dwyer was disclosing was true, but unintentional.

View the complete November 15 article by Matt Zapotosky and Devlin Barret on The Washington Post website here.

Text Messages Show That Roger Stone Sought Presidential Pardon for WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange

Roger Stone is busted.

Credit: Screenshot, Raw Story

Mother Jones is reporting that on January 6, Roger Stone—veteran Republican Party operative and an advisor to President Donald Trump—sent a series of text messages to comedian/activist Randy Credico stating that he was actively seeking a presidential pardon for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

“I am working with others to get JA a blanket pardon,” Stone wrote in a January 6 exchange of text messages obtained by Mother Jones. “It’s very real and very possible. Don’t fuck it up.” And in a separate text written 35 minutes later, Stone added, “Something very big about to go down!”

The 66-year-old Stone is among the many Trump associates who has become a focus of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia-related investigation. And although Assange hasn’t been charged with any crimes in the U.S., Mueller’s office has been examining Stone’s efforts to secure a blanket presidential pardon for the Wikileaks founder. Prosecutors for the U.S. Justice Department have been keeping an eye on Assange since 2010, when more than 250,000 diplomatic cables were released by WikiLeaks.

View the complete October 25 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet.org website here.

Roger Stone claimed contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2016, according to two associates

The following article by Tom Hamburger, Josh Dawsey, Carol D. Leonnig and Shane Harris was posted on the Washington Post website March 13, 2018:

Roger Stone, a longtime ally of President Trump, speaks to reporters after appearing before a closed House Intelligence Committee meeting in September 2017. Credit: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

In the spring of 2016, longtime political operative Roger Stone had a phone conversation that would later seem prophetic, according to the person on the other end of the line.

Stone, an informal adviser to then-candidate Donald Trump, said he had learned from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that his organization had obtained emails that would torment senior Democrats such as John Podesta, then campaign chairman for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Continue reading “Roger Stone claimed contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2016, according to two associates”

Trump campaign data firm ‘approached WikiLeaks during US election for Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails’

The following article by Jeremy B. White was posted on the Independent website October 25, 2017:

Julian Assange in May at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Mr. Assange confirmed on Twitter that he had been approached before the 2016 election by the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica. Credit Peter Nicholls/Reuters

A political data firm employed by the Trump campaign sought to work with WikiLeaks, publisher Julian Assange has said.

The proposed partnership was first uncovered by the Daily Beast, which reported that Cambridge Analytica approached the anti-secrecy organisation in an effort to locate the 33,000 emails deleted from Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

The Trump campaign effectively found an ally in WikiLeaks during the campaign when the organisation published thousands of internal emails from Democratic Party operatives, moving Donald Trump to proclaim “I love WikiLeaks” in response to one disclosure. Continue reading “Trump campaign data firm ‘approached WikiLeaks during US election for Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails’”

Assange Says WikiLeaks Rejected Request by Data Firm Tied to Trump

The following article by Nicholas Confessore was posted on the New York Times website October 25, 2017:

Julian Assange in May at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Mr. Assange confirmed on Twitter that he had been approached before the 2016 election by the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica. Credit Peter Nicholls/Reuters

The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Wednesday that he had rebuffed a request for help last year from the head of a data firm that worked for Donald J. Trump and is now facing congressional scrutiny.

On Twitter, Mr. Assange said he had been approached before the 2016 election by Alexander Nix, the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica, which worked for Mr. Trump during the final months of the campaign. Mr. Assange did not disclose what kind of help Mr. Nix sought, only that he had declined the request.

“I can confirm an approach by Cambridge Analytica,” Mr. Assange wrote, “and can confirm that it was rejected by WikiLeaks.” Continue reading “Assange Says WikiLeaks Rejected Request by Data Firm Tied to Trump”