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Did Mitch McConnell stop Trump from pardoning Assange? Senate leader told POTUS he would impeach him, say reports

'Mitch’s shot across the bow, letting Trump know he had better keep his dog collar on and NOT pardon Assange and Snowden'

With only some time for Donald Trump's presidency left, it appears that Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell might have warned him not to make decisions that will jeopardize his future. Reports came out that in a speech on the Senate floor on January 19, McConnell not only condemned Trump for his purported role in the riots at the US Capitol but also threatened him with impeachment if he pardons.

Conservative commentator Mike Cernovich on Tuesday tweeted, "Mitch’s shot across the bow, letting Trump know he had better keep his dog collar on and NOT pardon Assange and Snowden."

Tucker Carlson reported on this subject, "Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the leader of Republicans in the Senate, has sent word over the White House – If you pardon Julian Assange we are much more likely to convict you in an impeachment trial. Well, is it legal to hold that over a president’s head?  We’re not lawyers, we don’t know.  It’s certainly wrong.  But more than that, it tells you everything about their priorities." You can watch the video here. In a tweet, New York Times' Adam Goldman tweeted, "McConnell he has told allies he hopes never to speak to Mr. Trump again and is doing nothing to persuade senators to back him, instead calling the impeachment vote a matter of conscience."

On Twitter, journalist Cassandra Fairbanks claims that Trump is being prevented from pardoning Assange, Snowden, and Ross Ulbricht by White House counsel Pat Cipollone. She further claimed that Cipollone is telling the president that these pardons would anger the Senate and push them to indict him. "Hearing a pardon for Julian is being blocked by Pat Cipollone," she wrote, adding, "He is telling Trump that he will piss off senate and they will move to indict him for incitement to get back at him if he pardons Julian. This is batshit insanity. They will do it anyways. Someone call Pat and get him to stop being a c**ks***er please."

At the same time, Snowden also tweeted, "Reports that Trump has let himself be bullied out of pardoning Assange, mistakenly believing Senate Republicans won't vote to impeach him if he caves," he wrote, adding, "Once he's out of power, they're going to vote to impeach him anyway. Which, well — that's one way to be remembered. #Politics".

In the speech, McConnell had added, "The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like."

McConnell had previously called Assange a "high-tech terrorist" who caused "enormous damage to the country and to its relationship with its allies" by releasing classified government materials.

It is reported that Snowden is currently in Russia after leaking National Security Agency information that revealed the US intelligence agencies' surveillance of ordinary citizens of the country. Like Assange, he is accused of violating the Espionage Act.