Former President Donald Trump hinted at the possibility of pardoning Julian Assange, the figure behind Wikileaks.
During an interview on the podcast TimcastIRL before his address at the Libertarian convention on Saturday, Trump was asked about the likelihood of pardoning Assange if he were to be elected for a second term. Trump indicated that the decision was under “very serious consideration.”
“We’re going to give it very serious consideration, and we’re going to have a couple of other things to say in the speech that I think you’re going to love,” Trump responded, without clearly stating whether he would indeed pardon Assange.
Recently, Assange won the right to appeal his extradition to the U.S. The U.S. has been attempting to bring him to American soil to face charges since 2019. In the U.S., Assange is looking at charges under the Espionage Act of 1917 for distributing classified military and diplomatic materials and allegedly collaborating with hackers.
President Joe Biden has also suggested the possibility of dropping the U.S. case against Assange, saying “we’re considering it” in response to a request from the Australian government, acknowledging Assange’s Australian nationality.
On Saturday, Trump committed to using his clemency powers to pardon those involved in the January 6 Capitol riots, stating it would be one of his first actions as president. Additionally, he vowed to commute the life sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the “Silk Road” website, during his speech.
Ulbricht is currently serving a federal sentence for establishing and running the darknet market website Silk Road from 2011 to 2013. U.S. law enforcement has described Silk Road as a “sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace” and “sprawling black-market bazaar” which had over 100,000 users engaging in illegal services.
