George Clooney has taken striking British barrister Amal Alamuddin – who represents WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange - to meet President Obama at the White House, MailOnline can reveal.
In a move that will provoke yet more questions over his close friendship with the human rights lawyer, Oscar winner George, 52, took Miss Alamuddin to the private screening of his latest movie Monuments Men last week, in a group that included his parents Nick and Nina Clooney.
The stunning brunette is currently representing Assange - who has made no secret of his anger at President Obama's White House - in his extradition proceedings with Sweden.
Cosy: George Clooney stands next to British barrister Amal Alamuddin at the Willard Hotel's exclusive Round Robin and Scotch Bar in Washington D.C. after they both attended a private screening of his latest movie, Monuments Men, with President Obama at the White House on Tuesday, February 18. His friend and co-producer Grant Heslov is seen sitting down
Meet my friends: George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin have a late-night drink with, from left, Matt Damon, his wife Luciana (sitting down), actor Bill Murray, and producer Grant Heslov
Friends in high places: George Clooney speaks at the private White House screening of his new film, Monuments Men on Tuesday, February 18, with President Barack Obama watching onAn onlooker at the bar told MailOnline: 'They looked very much together, George had his arm around her and she appeared to be a girlfriend.
'They were in a small group of about 10 people, it's really a small venue and there were maybe only about 30 people in the bar, and they were sitting at a table off to the side.
Bizarrely, the group can all be seen wearing mardi-gras style necklaces in the snapshot.
Striking: British barrister Amal Amaluddin speaks three languages and was last year voted London's 'hottest barrister'Miss Alamuddin was not on the official White House guest list that was issued last week.
However, in pictures seen by MailOnline, Miss Alamuddin - who donned a slinky black dress for the night - beams as she sips on champagne while having her hair done ahead of the screening, with Luciana Damon and Lysa Heslev looking on.
The presence of Julian Assange's lawyer in the White House, even on a movie star's arm for a private screening, is bound to have put the White House on tenterhooks.
Last June, Assange attacked President Obama and the White House in an open letter over its treatment of fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
When asked about Miss Alamuddin's presence at the screening, the White House press office had no official comment.
However, two White House sources told MailOnline that Miss Alamuddin came to the event with Clooney, according to their colleagues who were present.
One said she and Clooney were the talk of the junior staff on the next day since they had been seen cozying up to each other as they arrived, walking behind the star's parents, Nick and Nina Clooney.
The film follows an allied group, the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, tasked with finding and saving pieces of art and other culturally important items before their destruction by Hitler during World War II.
And the official guest list from the White House shows just what an intimate screening it was. Invited were Clooney, his parents NIck and Nina, Bill Murray, Matt Damon, Grant Heslov, Robert Edsel, writer of the book The Monuments Men and Harry Ettlinger, a surviving member of the original Monuments Men group.
Bill Burns, Deputy Secretary of State, was on the list as was Heather Higginbottom, Deputy Secretary of State and David Wade, State Department Chief of Staff. They were joined by Richard Stengel, Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs, Evan Ryan, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs and Bill McHugh, Secretary of the Army.
Sara Bloomfield, Director the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, was invited as was Rabbi Jack Moline, Agudas Achim Congregation, Susan Hildreth, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States
Friendly: Oscar winner George Clooney was first seen with British barrister Amal Alamuddin as they left dinner at Berners Tavern in London in October 2013. He later denied a romance with the striking lawyer
Cosy dinner: George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin smile as they're caught leaving the Berners Tavern. The actor took the raven-haired barrister to the White House last week
No romance, really? George Clooney denied dating Amal Alamuddin after the couple were pictured together at dinner in London in October. His spokesman said: 'He wants Amal to be able to prosecute cases without being hassled because she had one dinner with George and four others'.
Miss Alamuddin, who works from London's Doughty Street Chambers, specialises in international law, human rights, extradition and criminal law. She speaks three languages - French, Arabic and English - and was voted No. 1 on London's Hottest Barrister list of 2013.
She has been appointed to a number of UN commissions including as adviser to Special Envoy Kofi Annan on Syria and her high profile human rights cases have included representing former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
She is currently representing Assange in his extradition proceedings with Sweden. The Australian hacker and rogue online publisher is currently wanted for questioning in Sweden in a sexual assault case.
When the UK’s Supreme Court turned down his appeal of an order to enforce the European arrest warrant against him, Assange fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Ecuador granted him political asylum in June 2012.
If he should leave the embassy, the British government will likely send him to Sweden. From there, Assange fears, he could be extradited later to the United States to face even more fearsome charges.
His U.S. criminal case stems from his 2010 decision to publish a collection of American diplomatic cables – the largest cache of classified documents ever made public at once – on the WIkileaks website.
Assange received the material from Bradley Manning, an American soldier who was later convicted of violating the federal Espionage Act. A judge sentenced Manning last year to 35 years in Fort Leavenworth military prison, although he could be paroled in just eight years.
The day after his sentencing, the disgraced Army private announced that he had changed his name to Chelsea, and that he wanted to live as a woman.
From his sanctuary in the Ecuadorian Embassy, Assange wrote an open letter last June on the occasion of his first anniversary in hiding, slamming the Obama White House for its treatment of the fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
'The word "traitor" has been thrown around a lot in recent days,' Assange wrote. 'But who is really the traitor here?'
'Who was it who promised a generation "hope" and "change," only to betray those promises with dismal misery and stagnation? … Who is it that promised to preside over The Most Transparent Administration in history, only to crush whistleblower after whistleblower with the bootheel of espionage charges?’
Oscar winner Clooney and Miss Alamuddin were first pictured together after enjoying dinner at the Berners Tavern in London last October and then seen sharing a cab as they left the restaurant.
However, just days later, Clooney was at pains to stress he was still single after splitting with long-time love Stacy Keibler last summer.
After being linked with actress Katie Holmes and Croatian model Monika Jakisic as well as Miss Alamuddin, Clooney told People magazine in October: ‘Three different stories in three weeks. I should be an athlete. But, no of course, it's all made up.’
At work: Amal Alamuddin and high-profile human rights activist, Geoffrey Robertson QC, with Eugenia Tymoshenko, daughter of formerly imprisoned Ukranian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in London on November 5, 2012
From his sanctuary in the Ecuadorian Embassy, Assange wrote an open letter last June on the occasion of his first anniversary in hiding, slamming the Obama White House for its treatment of the fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
'The word "traitor" has been thrown around a lot in recent days,' Assange wrote. 'But who is really the traitor here?'
'Who was it who promised a generation "hope" and "change," only to betray those promises with dismal misery and stagnation? … Who is it that promised to preside over The Most Transparent Administration in history, only to crush whistleblower after whistleblower with the bootheel of espionage charges?’
Oscar winner Clooney and Miss Alamuddin were first pictured together after enjoying dinner at the Berners Tavern in London last October and then seen sharing a cab as they left the restaurant.
However, just days later, Clooney was at pains to stress he was still single after splitting with long-time love Stacy Keibler last summer.
After being linked with actress Katie Holmes and Croatian model Monika Jakisic as well as Miss Alamuddin, Clooney told People magazine in October: ‘Three different stories in three weeks. I should be an athlete. But, no of course, it's all made up.’
At work: Amal Alamuddin and high-profile human rights activist, Geoffrey Robertson QC, with Eugenia Tymoshenko, daughter of formerly imprisoned Ukranian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in London on November 5, 2012
Enemies of the state: Fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden (left) and Bradley Manning (right) an American soldier who was later convicted of violating the federal Espionage Act.
According to Clooney's spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, the actor finally felt moved to put a stop to the gossip.
‘George wants this Monika crap to stop. He wants Katie to get a break, and he wants Amal to be able to prosecute cases without being hassled because she had one dinner with George and four others … I even asked George if these [rumors] were true and he said he never comments on his private life, but in the interest of stopping the harassment of all three of these women, he felt he should.'A source close to the actor added: "George is not dating, nor has he dated Monika in several years, nor is he dating Katie Holmes – he simply hugged her at a premiere – nor is he the new boyfriend of Amal, who he is working with on a [surveillance] satellite program over Syria.
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