Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California has returned from Europe with a plan to brief President Trump on a meeting with WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange that he says touched on information disproving Russia’s role hacking Democratic emails.
The Orange County Republican visited Assange inside Ecuador’s London embassy last week and told the Washington Examiner on Thursday, shortly after his return, that “I would not talk on the telephone” with the president about the three-hour conversation.
“There is a meeting arranged, and I forgot the exact day it is right now, but it’s coming up,” he said.
Rohrabacher spokesman Ken Grubbs was unable to provide additional details on Friday, and Rohrabacher did not respond to a text message. The White House did not immediately respond to an inquiry about whether a meeting is scheduled.
Before returning to the U.S., Rohrabacher outlined a plan to discuss the meeting with Trump before sharing information with the public, which he hoped to do “by the end of the month.”
He told the Daily Caller that Assange may deserve a pardon for the information he has, and told the Orange County Register the content was “earth-shattering.” He declined to tell the Examiner if he was given physical files to hand over, but implied he had not.
It would be surprising if WikiLeaks, an anti-secrecy organization often critical of U.S. foreign policy, gave the American president a sneak peek rather than publish information directly, and Rohrabacher has refused to describe what exactly he wants to share with Trump.
But there is an alignment of interests on the subject of Russia allegedly hacking and then giving WikiLeaks emails damaging to Hillary Clinton’s candidacy. Trump resisted the conclusion of U.S. spy agencies that Russia was responsible, while Assange and Rohrabacher say it’s untrue.
Still, uncertainty lingers about what exactly Rohrabacher was told and whether he is acting on behalf of the secret-spilling site.
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“It would be extraordinarily remarkable” if WikiLeaks used Rohrabacher as a back-channel to Trump, said Ned Price, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council during the Obama administration.
“There is absolutely no conceivable or legitimate reason to have a back channel with WikiLeaks, and certainly not one extending to the president of the United States,” Price told the Examiner. “If we want the perspective of Russia’s intelligence services, we should allow the CIA to be the primary conduit.”
In interviews with the Examiner and other publications, Rohrabacher indicated he expected to receive additional information from WikiLeaks after his meeting with Assange.
“This is not a one-step process; it’s a two-step or three step-process,” he said last week. “There are some things we just have to go to the president with and see what he says, and then see how we can actually work its way so the American people know the truth.”
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Critics fear Dana Rohrabacher creating WikiLeaks back channel to Trump https://t.co/m25lhDAj2m pic.twitter.com/F5LsDdu6sI
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) August 26, 2017
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