Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told a British court on Tuesday that he had been promised a pardon by people close to President Donald Trump.

Assange made the remarks while appearing at a pretrial hearing via teleconference.

Courtroom reporter James Doleman broke the news on Twitter. According to Doleman, Assange said that the pardon was conditional on him publicly announcing that Russia had nothing to do with the attack on the 2016 election.

Breaking, at pre-trial hearing for Julian Assange a court has heard that he will be calling a witness who will allege he was offered a pardon by the US government, if he would say Russia was not involved in the leak of DNC documents during the 2006 election.

— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) February 19, 2020

Julian Assange court appearance today- His lawyer mentioned a statement, that alleges former US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher visited Assange, saying he was there on behalf of the President, offering a pardon if JA would say Russia had nothing to do with DNC leaks. @SBSNews

— Ben Lewis (@benlewismedia) February 19, 2020

In 2017, a The Wall Street Journal report said that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) attempted to broker a deal for a pardon or clemency between the White House and Assange.

Assange is wanted in the United States on 18 counts of violating espionage laws and conspiring to hack government computers.

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