WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange has met with California Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher on Tuesday at the Ecuadorian embassy in London where Assange has been holed up for years. At the meeting, Assange told the American lawmaker that he can prove that the leaked Democratic Party documents WikiLeaks published during last year’s U.S. presidential election did not come from Russia. Assange also promised additional “helpful information” about the leaks soon.
Rohrabacher chairs an important House subcommittee on Eurasia policy. He is also the first American congressman to meet with Assange. The two held a three-hour private gathering at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Rohrabacher shared what she and Assange discussed in the meeting. He said: “Our three-hour meeting covered a wide array of issues, including the WikiLeaks exposure of the DNC emails during last year’s presidential election. Julian emphatically stated that the Russians were not involved in the hacking or disclosure of those emails.”
The Republican lawmaker, however, would not divulge more details on the source of the leaks. He said he had information to share privately with President Donald Trump.
Rohrabacher also shared: “Julian also indicated that he is open to further discussions regarding specific information about the DNC email incident that is currently unknown to the public.”
Rohrabacher is being criticized by Democrats and liberals for allegedly being “pro-Russia.”
U.S. intelligence has always insisted that it has “solid proof” that Russia was behind last year’s hacking of the Democrats’ mails that caused them much embarrassment especially for their presidential nominee and eventual loser Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman John Podesta. They have yet to make the so-called solid proof public.
For his part, Assange has consistently said that Russia was not the source of their leaks.
Rohrabacher’s meeting with Assange is expected to be controversial with his colleagues. The lawmaker would rather focus, however, with the information he got from the meeting and which he would carry back to Trump when he returns to the U.S. Included in the information is a request that WikiLeaks as an organization is granted a news media seat inside the White House press room.
Rohrabacher supports the request. He explained: “Julian passionately argued the case that WikiLeaks was vital to informing the public about controversial though necessary issues. He hoped that WikiLeaks- an award winning Journalistic operation- might be granted a seat in the White House press corps. As a former newsman myself I can’t see a reason why they shouldn’t be granted news status for official press conferences.”
Rohrabacher is the mum, on the other hand, on the “exclusive” information he has for President Trump acquired from the meeting with Assange.
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