Donald Trump 'offered Julian Assange a pardon if he denied Russia link to hack'

• WikiLeaks published emails damaging to Hillary Clinton in 2016
• Ex-congressman denies being middleman for US president

Donald Trump offered Julian Assange a pardon if he would say Russia was not involved in leaking Democratic party emails, a court in London has been told.

The extraordinary claim was made at Westminster magistrates court before the opening next week of Assange's legal battle to block attempts to extradite him to the US, where he faces charges for publishing hacked documents. The allegation was denied by the former Republican congressman named by the Assange legal team as a key witness.