This is just wild. California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who is widely reported to be Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin's favorite congressman, is now shilling for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Rohrabacher pitched White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on the idea of pardoning Assange, or "something like that," in exchange for supposed evidence that would prove Russia had no role in the hacking of Democratic campaigns last year.
Of course, Assange faces charges of espionage if he were to ever be extradited to the U.S. He's been holed up Ecuador's United Kingdom embassy for the last five years to avoid being extradited to Sweden for questioning regarding his role in a suspected rape, but Assange has remained there to avoid being sent to the U.S. even after Sweden ended its investigation in May. It wasn't that long ago that prominent conservatives were figuratively calling for Assange's head on a spike, but partisanship makes for strange bedfellows, indeed.
This isn't the first time that Rohrabacher has done something this batshit crazy. Just last week, Rohrabacher put on his tinfoil hat to argue that the Charlottesville Nazis and KKK protesters were "Civil War re-enactors" who were part of a Democratic plot of manipulation to manufacture a confrontation and "put our president on the spot." He previously met with far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, went on Albanian television and declared that "Macedonia is not a state" and should be split up and given to other countries, and had gotten involved with his close friend and disgraced ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff in a strange plan ostensibly to help the Republic of Congo defeat the terrorist group Boko Haram.
Although the incumbent has held down his coastal Orange County district with ease for 15 terms, this diversifying and highly educated suburban seat zoomed leftward from 55-43 Romney to 48-46 Clinton last year, and its demographics render it a prime target for Democrats next year as 2018 is shaping up to be a backlash to Trump nationally. Rohrabacher already faces several serious Democratic challengers, and this latest insanity is likely doing him no favors with general election voters.