Marjorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman-elect known for promoting conspiracy theories, is backing a bipartisan effort to pardon the head of the WikiLeaks site that spawned so-called “Pizzagate.”
Ms. Greene, Georgia Republican, said Thursday she agrees with current members of Congress who recently called for President Trump to grant a pardon to WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange.
Posting on Twitter, Ms. Greene said she believes Mr. Trump should issue a “full pardon” to Mr. Assange, who faces multiple felonies related to WikiLeaks, as well as fellow leaker Edward J. Snowden.
“Let them be free!” Ms. Greene said in the tweet.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii Democrat and former presidential hopeful, has introduced congressional resolutions calling for the U.S. government to give up its criminal cases against the wanted leakers.
Mr. Assange, an Australian, has been charged with violations of the U.S. Espionage Act for WikiLeaks having published classified military and diplomatic material dating back to 2010.
Years later, near the end of the 2016 election ultimately won by Mr. Trump, WikiLeaks released emails belonging to John Podesta, the chairman of then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
The contents of those emails were subsequently misconstrued by conspiracy theorists to have included coded references to the operation of a child trafficking ring supposedly operating out of a D.C. pizzeria.
Before running to represent Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, Ms. Greene wrote conspiracy-laden articles for a blog, American Truth Seekers, which promoted this so-called “Pizzagate.”
In 2017, for example, Ms. Greene linked to another site that implied “Pizzagate” to be real, adding it “tells about information that was only whispered about and called conspiracy theories by all main stream news media.” More recently, she promoted QAnon, the collection of fringe conspiracy theories that centers around a purported “deep state” plot supposedly targeting the president.
Mr. Assange, 49, is currently jailed in London awaiting a British court’s decision regarding whether to approve of an extradition request made by the U.S. government during the Trump administration.
Mr. Snowden, a 37-year-old American, has also been charged under the Espionage Act for leaking material in 2013 he accessed as a contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency. He has lived in Russia for the last seven years.
The resolutions calling on the U.S. to drop the Assange and Snowden cases are co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Matt Gaetz of Florida, respectively. Rep. Justin Amash, Michigan Libertarian, has co-sponsored each of them as well.
“I agree with @TulsiGabbard, @RepThomasMassie, and @mattgaetz! @realDonaldTrump should issue a full pardon to Julian Assange and Edward @Snowden,” Ms. Greene said in her tweet.
“Each risked his life to expose the crimes of Barack Obama and the Deep State against the American people,” she tweeted.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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