Ahead of a day when Donald Trump is expected to issue 100 pardons, Pamela Anderson appeared on Tucker Carlson’s FOX News show to pressure Trump to pardon Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Said Anderson: “Like you said, it’s freedom of the press, freedom of speech. If we don’t have that, we don’t have a democracy. I really thank you for what you’re saying and I think, like you said, this is a defining moment for the president. … The entire world wants, or most want him to pardon Julian Assange. This is why he’s president. This is I think, the defining moment. This is his time to shine. To really make an impression on the world that this was freedom of speech. Because if this goes to trial, that’s the end of the First Amendment. …
“I’m sure that there’s a lot going on behind the scenes where people are trying to bully him a little bit because there’s an impeachment and probably a couple cranky Republican senators,” the former Baywatch star added. “He needs to do the right thing. This is one of those moments in history, in his lifetime, where he can make the right decision. He would really gain a huge following and a huge sigh of relief and gratefulness from so many people on the planet.”
The NYT reported last week that lobbyists had stepped up their efforts to persuade Trump to issue a pardon for Assange: “The Justice Department announced last week that it would appeal a British judge’s ruling blocking the extradition of Mr. Assange to the United States to face trial on charges of violating the Espionage Act and conspiring to hack government computers. … As vice president, Mr. Biden called the WikiLeaks founder a ‘high-tech terrorist.’ Some of his top advisers blame Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks for helping Mr. Trump win the presidency in 2016 by publishing emails from Democrats associated with Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which U.S. officials say were stolen by Russian intelligence to damage her candidacy. Mr. Trump has long downplayed Russia’s role in the 2016 election.”
Trump is also considering pardons for rapper Lil Wayne, former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, according to the NYT.
CNN reported: “Initially, two major batches had been ready to roll out, one at the end of last week and one on Tuesday. Now, officials expect the last batch to be the only one — unless Trump decides at the last minute to grant pardons to controversial allies, members of his family or himself. The final batch of clemency actions is expected to include a mix of criminal justice reform-minded pardons and more controversial ones secured or doled out to political allies.”
The Washington Post reported that Trump met with Jared and Ivanka for hours on Sunday discussing the lists: “Neither Trump nor his children have been charged with crimes, and they are not known to be under federal investigation. But the question of a presidential self-pardon has become more urgent and controversial since the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by the president’s supporters. Some aides think Trump could face criminal liability for inciting the crowd. Others think a self-pardon, never before attempted by a president, would be of dubious constitutionality but could anger Senate Republicans preparing to serve as key jurors at Trump’s impeachment trial, and would amount to an admission of guilt that could be used against Trump in potential civil litigation related to the Capitol attack.”
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