Donald Trump Tried To Offer Pardon In Case Tied To Joe Biden Corruption, Entrepreneur Says
Hours before he departed the White House, Donald Trump granted pardons to 73 individuals and commutations to 70 others in the early hours of Wednesday. According to Finnish-German entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, Trump attempted to offer him a pardon for charges related to his now-defunct file hosting service Megaupload, which the businessman says he refused.
“Several people in Trumps inner circle dangled a pardon in front of my nose,” he tweeted. “I told them I’m not interested in a pardon unless Assange & Snowden get pardoned and if not I would trade my pardon for Assange. I don’t need a pardon. I’m a battle-scarred warrior. I’ll go to Valhalla.”
Despite the setback, the entrepreneur assured his followers he would still be fighting for Assange’s release.
To all #Assange supporters out there. It is disappointing that Trump did not pardon Julian. But our numbers have grown. Many respected people join our movement to free Julian every day. Our voices can no longer be ignored. Let’s fight for Julian’s release this year. Stay strong. pic.twitter.com/CykUGC2yXQ
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) January 20, 2021
According to Dotcom, Trump offered him a pardon because his case is a “Biden case.”
“Biden corruption made my case possible. Biden put his own lawyer, a copyright lobbyist, into the DOJ to create this corrupt case. Biden abused his power in exchange for favors from his Hollywood donors.”
As reported by Ars Technica, Dotcom previously accused Biden of being the driving force behind the Megaupload case and said the President-elect ordered U.S. State attorney Neil MacBride to go after his former company. According to the political activist, he received information from an unnamed source that revealed Biden met with Motion Picture Association of America chief Chris Dodd on multiple occasions.
Notably, Biden and Dodd allegedly met at the White House in 2011 along with various prominent entertainment industry figures, including then-Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross, then-CEO of Warner Bros Entertainment Barry Meyer, and then-CEO of Paramount Pictures Brad Grey.
Dotcom is currently in New Zealand and has thus far avoided extradition to the United States. Officials at Immigration New Zealand and the Overseas Investment Office allegedly investigated his website and did not find any concerns regarding its operation. In addition, they reportedly found that Dotcom had earned his wealth legally.
According to his country’s courts, the American-initiated raid on Dotcom’s mansion was illegal.
Per BBC, the case is currently in limbo due to the New Zealand Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a lower court decision that allows Dotcom the right to an appeal. The FBI wants to charge the entrepreneur and his co-accused with 13 counts, including copyright infringement.
As The Inquisitr reported, Megaupload was founded in 2005 and had over 50 million visitors daily. According to the U.S. Justice Department, the company made approximately $175 million from membership fees and advertising.
