Pamela Anderson wants an 11th hour face-to-face meeting with President Donald Trump in a last ditch bid to grab a presidential pardon for friend and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The former Baywatch star, 53, knows that come January 20 – Joe Biden’s inauguration and Trump’s exit – the chances of securing Assange’s freedom on espionage charges could slip away.
The Australian faces 18 criminal charges tied to the hacking of government computers and subsequent release of hundreds of thousands of secret government papers handed over by already convicted ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
If found guilty he could spend up to 175 years behind bars.
Assange is currently in a London prison after being ejected from his hideout of almost seven years, the Ecuadorian embassy.
‘I want him to be free,’ Anderson said in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.
Pamela Anderson wants an 11th hour face-to-face meeting with President Donald Trump in a last ditch bid to grab a presidential pardon for friend and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
The former Baywatch star knows that come January 20 – Joe Biden’s inauguration and Trump’s exit – the chances of securing Assange’s freedom on espionage charges could slip away. She said: ‘I have met Mr Trump a few times on the Playboy circuit – I was invited to his birthday. He has always got a kick out of me – he told me once he was ”proud of me and to go get em”. Well that’s what I’m trying to do Mr. President’
‘To walk outside in the sun with his little boys and his partner and to be able to act spontaneously.
‘Can you imagine that in a decade he hasn’t been able to have a single spontaneous act. Like go for a coffee. Or a walk. Or to a movie. He has not had any normality.’
Anderson says she was ‘delighted’ when a British judge blocked her friend’s extradition to the US earlier this month on the grounds he was at risk of taking his own life – a decision the US is appealing.
But she points to the irony of his extradition being blocked due to his mental state – a mental state, she says, deeply affected by ten years of detainment and under the threat of extradition.
The model has aggressively lobbied President Trump to pardon Assange, even though Trump’s Justice Department brought the charges.
He has exposed war criminals and war crimes. That he is being prosecuted for that courage and honesty is nothing if not unjust.
Last month she tweeted two photos of herself dressed in a tiny string bikini holding Assange posters and tagged Trump’s official presidential handle ‘@POTUS please #pardonjulianassange.’
‘No one should have to go to prison for what he has done,’ she explains.
‘And yes I do want to meet with Mr Trump in person to ask for a pardon.
‘I have met Mr Trump a few times on the Playboy circuit – I was invited to his birthday.
‘He has always got a kick out of me – he told me once he was ”proud of me and to go get em”. Well that’s what I’m trying to do Mr. President.
‘I’m appealing to him to pardon Julian and he still has a chance to do the right thing.’
Anderson, also an AIDS and animal rights activist, added: ‘I hate injustice and I applauded courage. I have always hated it and it’s why I advocate for animals because they are so often the brunt of injustice but they have no voice.
‘Julian however has a voice. A strong voice and he has used it fearlessly and constantly to call out the perpetrators of injustice.
‘He has exposed war criminals and war crimes. That he is being prosecuted for that courage and honesty is nothing if not unjust.’
The Australian faces 18 criminal charges tied to the hacking of government computers and subsequent release of hundreds of thousands of secret government papers handed over by already convicted ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning
Manning was released from prison on March 12, 2020
Anderson believes the issue surrounding Assange strikes at the heart of the First Amendment and his prosecution is a politically motivated retaliation for his role as a whistleblower.
Speaking from her estate in Malibu, California, Anderson said: ‘I think the only thing he did wrong was believe in the rule of law.
‘When he published his documents it was in the hope that the law would prevail and get justice for all the victims of the atrocities committed that he exposed. Instead of going after the criminals the powers went after him.’
Anderson says she first became aware of Assange ten years ago when he posted footage to YouTube of a 2007 US military Apache helicopter airstrike in Iraq that killed a dozen civilians, including two Reuters journalists, and injured two children.
‘It is horrific to watch and then to think that this is a daily and unnecessary war-time occurrence,’ she said.
The pair eventually met in 2014 at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, after being introduced by fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.
After their first meeting they would speak regularly on the phone and the visits became regular.
Rumors quickly swirled that they were romantically involved.
But if the rumors are untrue Anderson has done little to quash them.
‘He is an attractive man and I loved visiting him,’ she said wistfully.
‘And we would speak on the phone a lot. He is extremely charming… we did click immediately. He is very warm and kind. And engaging. And he is full of knowledge.
‘I flirt with everyone. But I am especially attracted to bright minds.
‘But it was a strange environment. The security company that was spying on his lawyers also photographed my phone and spied on our meetings.’
Anderson said she would take him exotic food when she visited, unusual fruits and vegan dishes.
Anderson says she first became aware of Assange ten years ago when he posted footage to YouTube of a 2007 US military Apache helicopter airstrike in Iraq that killed a dozen civilians, including two Reuters journalists, and injured two children
Last month she tweeted two photos of herself dressed in a tiny string bikini holding Assange posters and tagged Trump’s official presidential handle ‘@POTUS please #pardonjulianassange’
And they would share conversations about current affairs, pop culture and personal memories.
‘He is widely versed in basically everything. And he is funny,’ she says.
When asked if Assange had a crush on her, she responded, ‘I hope so,’ but teased: ‘We are both public figures and even public figures need some things to remain private.’
Anderson estimates she made 10-15 visits to see Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy and insists he was the consummate gentleman.
‘He would make the coffee rather than ask someone else to do it,’ she said.
‘We were in the embassy meeting room and we spoke about how to change the world.
‘He is a fascinating man and he sees things in a way that others don’t.
‘He is diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and I am sure that is relevant to how he can really get to the crux of a matter and see things as they really are rather than as they are portrayed.
‘He is all about knowledge. And knowledge is power. But not for the already powerful. His publications have given power to the people on the street and to victims of power.
He is an attractive man and I loved visiting him,’ she said wistfully. And we would speak on the phone a lot. He is extremely charming… we did click immediately. He is very warm and kind. And engaging. And he is full of knowledge.
‘Power to understand the world they live in and to make decisions based on fact about the world they want to live in.
‘He cares about people. He cares so much about their rights. And he will act whenever he sees he can help. Even if it’s to his own personal detriment.’
Anderson last saw Assange in 2019, before the coronavirus outbreak, when she visited the maximum-security HM Prison Belmarsh in southeast London.
‘He hadn’t been there long,’ she recalls. ‘He was on a general wing at the time and I was in shock. I seem to remember I was just trying to find out what we could do.
‘Shortly after that he was moved into isolation and cut off from everyone. Kept in a cell for 23 hours a day. It was terrible.
‘He isn’t in those conditions any more. But he should not be in jail, let alone a high security prison. He has just won his case and he should at least be allowed out on bail while the US deals with their appeal.’
Anderson says she does speak to Assange’s family while he’s in prison.
‘I’m in touch with his mother and father. His brother too and his partner Stella. I have met them all except his brother,’ she said.
And she’s furious at how the UK government has treated her friend.
Anderson last saw Assange in 2019, before the coronavirus outbreak, when she visited the maximum-security HM Prison Belmarsh in southeast London. ‘He hadn’t been there long,’ she recalls. ‘He was on a general wing at the time and I was in shock. I seem to remember I was just trying to find out what we could do’
For now the star fears something bad could happen to her friend while in prison, similar to the suspicious circumstances surrounding the suicide of prominent pedophile Jeffrey Epstein
‘The UK government refused to allow him to get treatment in a hospital for his frozen shoulder,’ she claims.
‘The UK government has ignored the UN who has been saying for years that he should be a free man.
‘The UK broke international law after international law and didn’t care. The US government has gone after him because he exposed the uncomfortable truths about the way they conduct themselves in war and in diplomacy.
‘But the UK government should do better. Julian has been psychologically tortured and he is physically unwell too.’
She added: ‘Boris Johnson has said the UK protects journalists, so I’d like him to protect Julian, as he should.’
Even if Assange isn’t extradited to the US, legal experts believe he could still be prosecuted by Britain under its Official Secrets Act.
Anderson denies being obsessed with Assange’s case, just ‘deeply concerned’, but admits his imprisonment ‘weighs heavy’ on her mind.
For now the star fears something bad could happen to her friend while in prison, similar to the suspicious circumstances surrounding the suicide of prominent pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
‘There is only so much that any individual can take, no matter how strong they are,’ she explains.
‘The UN expert on torture and independent medical experts say that Julian has been psychologically tortured for years.
‘He has been brutalized in a way that no man should. Julian needs to be treated with the dignity that all human beings deserve. He also needs to be free so he can heal. He is not safe until he is free.’