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Below is a brief summary of the existing record corroborating or contradicting the new claim by Assange's lawyers in court.
Corroborated by contemporaneous reporting:
- Rep. Rohrabacher met with Assange in August 2017 at the time Assange's lawyers claim the pardon offer was made
- Rep. Rohrabacher was actively and openly pursuing a pardon deal for Assange at that time
Contradictions by contemporaneous reporting:
- Rep. Rohrabacher's reported contacts with the WH about the pardon deal came after this meeting
- Rep. Rohrabacher publicly complained about his message not reaching president Trump after this meeting
- John Kelly blocked Rohrabacher from a WH meeting in September 2017
- The terms of the pardon deal were described differently in those reports. Assange's lawyers claim his part of the deal was to simply deny Russia's involvement, whereas Rohrabacher at the time claimed Assange had to provide evidence in exchange to refute 'collusion.'
Wildcard:
- Something prompted Mueller to ask Trump to provide written testimony on whether or not he had any discussions before the inauguration about pardoning Assange. There are no other references to Assange pardon discussions in the Mueller report.
- Rep. Rohrabacher told The Daily Caller on August 17 2017 "I can’t remember if I have spoken to anybody in the White House about this", referring to the pardon deal he was pursuing. Odd to use 'I don't recall' in that situation.