White House rejects Julian Assange lawyer's claim Trump offered pardon for denying Russia hacked the DNC

Julian Assange.
(Image credit: Carl Court/Getty Images)

The White House is denying a stunning claim from Julian Assange's lawyer that President Trump offered to pardon Assange if he said Russia had "nothing to do with" hacking the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election.

The Daily Beast on Wednesday reported a lawyer representing Assange, Edward Fitzgerald, claimed during a pre-extradition hearing that former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) visited Assange "on instructions from the president" and said "he was offering a pardon or some other way out, if Mr. Assange ... said Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks." Fitzgerald was citing a statement from another Assange lawyer, Jennifer Robinson.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.