Donald Trump offered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a pardon if he said Russia was not involved in the leak of Democratic National Committee emails, a court has heard. The claim emerged as Assange, 48, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court ahead of an extradition hearing next week. He said a statement from Assange’s lawyer Jennifer Robinson 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”. The extradition hearing is due to begin at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday, beginning with a week of legal argument. The hearing came after Australian MPs George Christensen and Andrew Wilkie called on Tuesday for Boris Johnson to intervene and stop the extradition hearing.

Source: GNN Liberia February 20, 2020 00:18 UTC