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True Dough

(17,096 posts)
Fri Aug 18, 2017, 02:48 PM Aug 2017

Is Trump going to pardon Julian Assange?

Could President Trump be considering a pardon for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange? That is the latest rumor after California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R) met with Assange earlier this week to discuss "what might be necessary to get him out" of asylum, The Daily Caller reports. The rumors reignited Friday morning when an account that tracks who the Trump family follows shared that Donald Trump Jr. followed Assange:




Assange faces sexual assault charges in Sweden and if he returned there, he could be deported to the U.S. where he could face a potential death penalty for leaking documents with Edward Snowden. To avoid the charges, Assange has lived in the Ecuadorian embassy since 2012.

In his interview, Rohrabacher suggested that Assange might be pardoned in exchange for information about the Democratic National Committee email leak last year. "[Assange] has information that will be of dramatic importance to the United States and the people of our country as well as to our government," Rohrabacher told The Daily Caller. "Thus if he comes up with that, you know he's going to expect something in return. He can't even leave the embassy to get out to Washington to talk to anybody if he doesn't have a pardon."

Assange notably has argued that Russia was not involved in the DNC hack, contrary to reports by U.S. intelligence. Rohrabacher has been criticized for being too soft on Russia.


http://theweek.com/speedreads/719243/trump-going-pardon-julian-assange
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UCmeNdc

(9,589 posts)
1. Trump, Assange, and Putin will produce a cover story that matches
Fri Aug 18, 2017, 02:52 PM
Aug 2017

Russian intelligence will forge fake documents..... watch

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,280 posts)
2. He can't be pardoned for a crime committed in Sweden, and if
Fri Aug 18, 2017, 02:52 PM
Aug 2017

he's sent to Sweden they probably wouldn't extradite him back to the US if he faces the death penalty (most countries with extradition treaties and no death penalty won't extradite in that situation. So Assange could do his time in Sweden and then possibly be home free if he doesn't go back to the US unless the US drops a potential death penalty. And fuck anything Rohrbacher has to say.

Denzil_DC

(7,188 posts)
6. No. One Swedish charge is still live, though it'd only come into operation if he visited Sweden.
Fri Aug 18, 2017, 04:07 PM
Aug 2017
Should Mr. Assange enter Sweden before August 2020, when the statute of limitations expires for the last remaining allegation, of minor rape ... the investigation could be reopened.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/world/europe/julian-assange-sweden-rape.html


There's also the charge of skipping bail in England, for which there's still an outstanding arrest warrant. The courts take a dim view of that sort of thing, though the maximum penalty is only one year in prison. Trump can't pardon him for that.

XRubicon

(2,212 posts)
12. With all the stuff he has published I am guessing he is wanted
Fri Aug 18, 2017, 05:47 PM
Aug 2017

in many countries, if shit bag pardon's him and he comes here- we would be obliged to extradite him.

hunter

(38,264 posts)
3. I'm surprised Ecuador is still keeping Assange.
Fri Aug 18, 2017, 03:26 PM
Aug 2017

He's like an obnoxious house guest who won't leave.

Get him drunk, put a burner phone and a hundred quid in his pocket, stuff him into a diplomatic mail pouch, stop the van and toss him into a ditch on the way to the airport.

Since he remains, I can't help thinking he's got some really ugly shit on Ecuador.

True Dough

(17,096 posts)
11. He hasn't been charged in the U.S.
Fri Aug 18, 2017, 05:43 PM
Aug 2017

There's speculation that the U.S. Department of Justice was preparing earlier this year to write him up for leaking classified U.S. government documents. Hasn't happened yet though.

So this pardon would possibly be in advance of a conviction, like Ford did for Nixon.

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