Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump recently stated that he will be seriously considering pardoning Julian Assange for espionage charges if he wins the November presidential election via Sydney Morning Herald.
It has been noted that Trump’s comments display a growing bipartisan willingness in the US to let Assange walk free as President Joe Biden stated that he was considering the Australian government’s request to drop the pursuit of Assange.
The WikiLeaks founder is currently battling extradition to the US, where he faces espionage charges carrying a maximum 175-year sentence for obtaining and publishing classified information under an indictment issued by the Trump administration in 2019.
When asked in an interview with American conservative podcaster Timothy Pool whether he would grant Assange a pardon if he came to office, Trump said: “Well I’m going to talk about that today, and we’re going to give it very serious consideration.”
https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1795276274384138657
It has been noted that Trump was speaking ahead of an address to the Libertarian National Convention, where he did not raise the Assange case in his speech.
Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton welcomed Trump’s comments, saying: “I think we are reaching a critical point in the fight to free Julian. All presidential candidates have made statements on Julian’s freedom in the past two months.”
Shipton continued: “It’s time this scandalous prosecution is brought to an end and, with the help of the Australian government, Julian is brought home to be with his family.”
