GOP Congressman Tried to Broker Pardon for Julian Assange …

Republican California congressman Dana Rohrabacher contacted the White House earlier this week with an interesting deal: Pardon Julian Assange in exchange for what he said was evidence proving Russia was not the source of the now infamous hacked DNC emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential race,The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

In a phone call to President Trumps chief of staff John Kelly on Wednesday, Rohrabacher described a possible agreement to pardon Assange or something like that, the Journal reported.In exchange for the deal, according to the report, Assange would provide a computer drive that would exonerate Russia in case.

While Assange has not been formally accused of wrongdoing, the U.S. government is looking into WikiLeaks release of secret government documents in 2010.

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Rohrabacher confirmed that he spoke to Kelly but declined to elaborate.

I cant confirm or deny anything about a private conversation at that level, he told the Journal.

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Rohrabachers offer comes as Special Counsel Robert Mueller and congressional committees are investigating Russias involvementin the 2016 election, as well as the Trump campaigns possible collusion with the Kremlin.

Trump has repeatedly denied the accusations.

Rohrabacher has earned a reputation on Capitol Hill as being decidedly pro-Russia. A May NBC report, saidfellow GOP lawmaker Kevin McCarthy once joked that theres two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump.

Over the years, Republicans particularly Donald Trump supporters have done a 180 (or a full 360) in their remarks about WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange. When he leaked on Hillary Clintons campaign in 2016, some Republicans said he was doing America a great service. But now the Trump administration is poised to attempt to convict Assange and WikiLeaks for their leaking activities. Here are fivetimes Trump and his supporters have flipped on the matter.

In 2010, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said this about Assange: He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?

In 2016, though, Palin changed her tune. She posted an apology to Assange on Facebook. I apologize for condemning Assange when he published my infamous (and proven noncontroversial, relatively boring) emails years ago, she wrote.

Way back when, Fox News host Sean Hannity said what Assange was doing was waging his war on America and called for his arrest. He also said WikiLeaks stealing and publishing classified documents put lives at risk, as Media Matters reported.

When Assange started leaking emails from the Clinton campaign, though, Hannity became very friendly. He even brought the WikiLeaks founder onto his show for an interview, saying America owes you a debt of gratitude.

Back in 2010, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said Assange was a terrorist. Information warfare is warfare. Julian Assange is engaged in warfare. Information terrorism, which leads to people getting killed is terrorism. And Julian Assange is engaged in terrorism.

Once WikiLeaks turned its attention to Clinton, though, Huckabee was ready to discuss Hillary Clintons criminal enterprise, as he called it, on Hannity. He didnt, however, have anything to say about where the leaks came from or whether the leakers should be brought up on treason charges.

Trump had strong words for Wikileaks in 2010. As CNN reported, in an interview with radio host Brian Kilmeade, Trump said of Wikileaks, I think it's disgraceful, I think there should be like death penalty or something.

During the campaign, though, Trumps support for WikiLeaks was hard to miss. He tweeted over and over again about things WikiLeaks documents about the Clinton campaign, and said at one campaign rally in October, WikiLeaks has provided things that are unbelievable.

While Trump repeatedly tweeted about documents released by WikiLeaks aimed at damaging Clinton, he also tweeted it was the dishonest media that claimed he was in agreement with WikiLeaks.

Republicans were fans of WikiLeaks during the election, but now the U.S. is looking to charge members of the organization

Over the years, Republicans particularly Donald Trump supporters have done a 180 (or a full 360) in their remarks about WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange. When he leaked on Hillary Clintons campaign in 2016, some Republicans said he was doing America a great service. But now the Trump administration is poised to attempt to convict Assange and WikiLeaks for their leaking activities. Here are fivetimes Trump and his supporters have flipped on the matter.

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GOP Congressman Tried to Broker Pardon for Julian Assange ...