Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, has claimed Donald Trump offered to pardon him if he denied that Russia was involved in the leak of Democratic emails ahead of the 2016 election. US intelligence agencies concluded that Russian-backed hackers stole a string of embarrassing emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton"s presidential campaign accounts which were published by WikiLeaks in the run up to the 2016 US presidential election. But Assange has claimed that a former Republican congressman, Dana Rohrabacher, visited him while he was seeking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in August 2017 to ask him to deny any Kremlin involvement. The claim emerged when the 48-year-old appeared at Westminster Magistrates" Court on Wednesday ahead of an extradition hearing next week.... To continue reading, subscribe and try your first month for free. Already a subscriber? Log in Enjoy unlimited access to all articles Choose from all our exclusive newsletters Unlock money-saving offers and events Read the daily newspaper on your mobile devices via the Digital Edition app