Julian Assange's extradition defense to include evidence that an alleged Trump envoy offered a pardon (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

Apparently in a pre-trial conference in London in advance of his extradition hearing, Assange's lawyer indicated that the defense would put on evidence that former congressman Dana Rohrabacher offered Assange a pardon if he made a statement that Russia was not the source of the DNC hack.

This is being reported by court observers, not opinion journalists . . . so it appears credible, at least to the extent that the Assange team thinks they have evidence of this that they intend to use at trial (not sure of what purpose).

Whether it actually happened, of course, is unclear - nor is it clear that if indeed it happened, it was with Trump's blessing.

 

[CoolBrees]

Did you just ask this what is wrong with the President trying to bribe a foreign national, one fighting extradition and accused of espionage against our government, with a pardon for a political favor?!?

You need someone to connect that dot for you?

pretty sure there is a clip of trump screeching how he loves Wikileaks...

 

[MT15]

No kidding. It does get really tiresome to listen to people defend the sort of crap that has gone on. Sure, let’s pardon everyone who can provide the lie that Trump wants, whether its true or not, who cares? Much like the “investigation” into the Bidens, it’s just the announcement not the actual investigation that matters. Because there is nothing to investigate about Joe Biden. Just like Assange was lying about it not being Russia.

 

[JimEverett]

What is truly tiresome is people taking the first instance of a story and turning it into "Oh my God - a crime has been committed," or "unprecedented," or "impeach," or "Russia," or "the economy is ruined,' or "the end of democracy," or " . . . . ." Don't people get tired?

 

[MT15]

You think that’s what happened here, jim? I don’t think any of that occurred here. But we did have a person defending a US Congressman offering a Russian cut out wanted for espionage a pardon to provide information that would be politically favorable to the president.

 

[JimEverett]

You think that’s what happened here, jim? I don’t think any of that occurred here. But we did have a person defending a US Congressman offering a Russian cut out wanted for espionage a pardon to provide information that would be politically favorable to the president.

I don't know what happened. I will wait and see as the facts come in.

 

[MT15]

I meant do you think people in this thread are being hyperbolic about what happened? Nobody is denying what was reported is true, are they? We have the congressman explaining it on video.

Rohrabacher met with Assange and offered to get him a pardon if he could provide evidence that it wasn’t Russia that did the hacking. Was that proper and good? SFL doesn’t see a problem there, but I do.

I think it’s fair to speculate about why Rohrabacher thought that this was a deal that Trump would agree to, and its also fair to speculate that Assange couldn’t provide his evidence because it was a lie. It was something that Trump wanted for his own personal reasons, though.

Nobody in this thread mentioned any of the stuff you complained about. At the same time, this isn’t a great look for the former congressman, and speaks to the sort of atmosphere this administration has fostered. Hint, it’s not really anti-corruption.

I don’t know the law, but I doubt an actual crime was committed. But it looks and feels like something unethical and improper to me.

 

[SaintForLife]

Did you just ask this what is wrong with the President trying to bribe a foreign national, one fighting extradition and accused of espionage against our government, with a pardon for a political favor?!?

You need someone to connect that dot for you?

pretty sure there is a clip of trump screeching how he loves Wikileaks...

First of all it's a hypothetical because I pointed to articles that Rohrabacher said Trump or Kelly never told him to offer the pardon.

It he did offer the pardon, how is that different than asking a witness to help in an investigation? If Assange was asked to fabricate evidence then that would be a different story.

The Trump administration should have never charged Assange. Will someone defend Assange being charged? Why did Obama refuse to charge Assange?

 

[MT15]

You have a whatabout for just everything, don’t you?

 

[dtc]

What is truly tiresome is people taking the first instance of a story and turning it into "Oh my God - a crime has been committed," or "unprecedented," or "impeach," or "Russia," or "the economy is ruined,' or "the end of democracy," or " . . . . ." Don't people get tired?

Horse poopey.

Are you ok with pardoning Madoff, and Blagoyovich?

Seriously?

 

[dtc]

I don't know what happened. I will wait and see as the facts come in.

Let's not pretend here. You needed no facts nor testimony last time there was a question posed.

What would you say to convince us that now is different than then?

 

[JimEverett]

Horse poopey.

Are you ok with pardoning Madoff, and Blagoyovich?

Seriously?

Classic example - was Madoff pardoned? Why not wait till it happens before getting outraged and acting as if it has happened.

As far as "am I ok" with it. Not sure what you mean. I wouldn't do it, but I am not going to act like this is some sort of unprecedented abuse of power. Many Presidents have pardoned and commuted sentences that I would not have done.

 

[FullMonte]

So, here's my question....

If we take Rohrabacher at his word that he offered Assange a pardon in exchange for evidence, on his own....what was his plan?

Either Trump pardons Assange, and Assange gives documents that show it wasn't Russia that hacked the DNC emails. No one believes it because every one of our intelligence agencies, and a well respected cybersecurity firm all said that it was Russia. So, it looks like Trump bribed Assange to lie.

or

Trump doesn't grant the pardon, and Rohrabacher ends up with egg on his face for offering a deal he couldn't make.

 

[SaintForLife]

Classic example - was Madoff pardoned? Why not wait till it happens before getting outraged and acting as if it has happened.

As far as "am I ok" with it. Not sure what you mean. I wouldn't do it, but I am not going to act like this is some sort of unprecedented abuse of power. Many Presidents have pardoned and commuted sentences that I would not have done.

Come on Jim. You know they need to have something to get outraged about. Why wait until something actually happends to get outraged? Maybe it helps them cope with Trump's election and probable reelection.

 

[SaintForLife]

You have a whatabout for just everything, don’t you?

I'm not sure if you noticed with your constant complaints about the silly whataboutism, but I was criticizing the Trump administration and actually suggesting that Obama did the right thing.

What's your opinion about Assange being charged?

 

[MT15]

Start another thread about that totally separate topic if you want.

Back to the topic of this thread, why do you think it’s fine for Rohrabacher to go to Assange and offer a pardon for him to provide proof that Russia didn’t do the hacking? What about that do you support?

According to a new interview, Rohrabacher was operating on the Seth Rich conspiracy theory. Which is most likely Russian sourced disinformation to begin with.

 

[CoolBrees]

Who cares about Assange- He’s a rapist that got away by hiding in a consulate until statute of limitations ran out.

I asked if you would take any dem senator at their word that they were acting alone if the situation happened with President Obama still in office.

I asked if you think the president bribing those who have been accused of being an enemy of the state with pardon is acceptable.

In my opinion, I don’t know if he gave an order for a quid pro quo or not; but I assume he did- he has already done it with Ukraine.

And as and aside- How do you square championing Assange and his plight yet crusading against the whistleblower? One is apparently a patriot for truth and justice and one is a deep state lackey.

 

[MT15]

Come on Jim. You know they need to have something to get outraged about. Why wait until something actually happends to get outraged? Maybe it helps them cope with Trump's election and probable reelection.

My guess is that dtc confused Madoff with Milken, although the pardon for Madoff is probably coming, he fits the recent profile of Trump pardons.

 

[dtc]

My guess is that dtc confused Madoff with Milken, although the pardon for Madoff is probably coming, he fits the recent profile of Trump pardons.

That's exactly right. I got my M swindlers swapped.