A lawyer for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has claimed in court that President Trump offered to pardon Assange if he agreed to help cover up Russia’s involvement in hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

In 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) attempted to broker a deal for a pardon between the White House and Assange.

Assange has argued that he should not be extradited to the U.S. because the American case against him is politically motivated. His lawyers told the court that Trump’s alleged offer to pardon Assange proved that this was no ordinary criminal investigation.

Edward Fitzgerald, who was representing Assange in court, said he had evidence that a quid pro quo was put to Assange by Rohrabacher, who was known as Putin’s favorite congressman.

Courtroom reporter James Doleman broke the news on Twitter after Assange made the remarks while appearing at a pretrial hearing via teleconference.

Breaking, at pre-trial hearing for Julian Assange a court has heard that he will be calling a witness who will allege he was offered a pardon by the US government, if he would say Russia was not involved in the leak of DNC documents during the 2006 election.

— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) February 19, 2020

Julian Assange court appearance today- His lawyer mentioned a statement, that alleges former US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher visited Assange, saying he was there on behalf of the President, offering a pardon if JA would say Russia had nothing to do with DNC leaks. @SBSNews

— Ben Lewis (@benlewismedia) February 19, 2020

Share your thoughts.