WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrives at court in London on May 1, 2019 to be sentenced for bail violation. Daniel Leal-Olivas | AFP | Getty Images

The congressman also said at the time that he had information to share privately with Trump. In a statement posted to his website Wednesday, Rohrabacher said he didn't offer a deal on Trump's behalf. "At no time did I offer Julian Assange anything from the President because I had not spoken with the President about this issue at all. However, when speaking with Julian Assange, I told him that if he could provide me information and evidence about who actually gave him the DNC emails, I would then call on President Trump to pardon him," the former congressman said. "At no time did I offer a deal made by the President, nor did I say I was representing the President." Yet Rohrabacher also said he met with then-White House chief of staff John Kelly and told him that Assange would provide information about the DNC hack in exchange for a pardon, but said no one from the White House followed up with him on the offer.

In his statement, Rohrabacher also called on Trump to pardon Assange, whom he called "the true whistleblower of our time." Neither CNBC nor NBC News has the full statement made by Assange's lawyer in court. The formal extradition hearing for Assange, an Australian national, is due to begin Monday. At Wednesday's court session, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser reportedly said the evidence about a purported pardon offer is admissible at that hearing. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, when asked about the claim of a pardon offer by Trump, said, "The President barely knows Dana Rohrabacher other than he's an ex-congressman." "He's never spoken to him on this subject or almost any subject. It is a complete fabrication and a total lie," Grisham said. "This is probably another never ending hoax and total lie from the DNC." Trump in a November 2018 tweet called Rohrabacher "a great Congressman for his district," who "works hard and is respected by all." Tweet Tweet WikiLeaks, in two tweets after Wednesday's hearing, seemed to confirm that a presidential pardon had been offered to Assange, but also said that the offer came 10 months "after Julian Assange had already independently stated that Russia was not the source of the DNC publication." WikiLeaks also said "the meeting and the offer were made prior to Assange's indictment." Tweet Tweet Rohrabacher did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the claims made by Assange's lawyers. Assange's attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department has said that Russian agents hacked emails from the DNC and from John Podesta, the campaign chairman for 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, in 2016.