Leaked Docs Reveal US Warned Sweden of “Negative Consequences” to A$AP Rocky's Continued Detainment
It seems Donald Trump's efforts to secure A$AP Rocky's release in his Swedish assault case went beyond mere tweets. CNN has shared leaked documents which reveal that a US official decided to put a little diplomatic pressure on the Swedish government to resolve the case, even threatening "negative consequences" if US demands were not met.
In the leaked diplomatic letter, Robert C. O'Brien, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, urged the Swedish Prosecution Authority to "resolve this case as soon as possible." O'Brien wrote the letter on July 31, two days before the Harlem rapper was was released from custody. The official requested the immediate humanitarian release of Rocky and his co-defendants—David Rispers and Bladimir Corniel—, proposing they be sent to "a supervised detention in a local Stockholm hotel pending final disposition of the case."
O'Brien underlined his request with the warning that if the case was not closed quickly there would be "negative consequences to the US-Swedish bilateral relationship."
According to a letter dated August 1, Sweden's Prosecutor-General, Petra Lundh, denied the requests. Defending the independence of the Swedish court she wrote, "No other prosecutor, not even I, may interfere with a specific case or try to affect the prosecutor responsible."
You can read both leaked letters at CNN's website.