Assange: Russian government not the source of WikiLeaks emails
Published January 03, 2017 | FoxNews.com
Just days after the Obama administration announced measures against Russia for alleged interference in the November election — and coming off of the news this weekend that President-elect Trump will be addressing the Russia question in the coming days, Fox News’ Sean Hannity traveled to London and did an extensive, exclusive, in-person interview with Julian Assange. The WikiLeaks founder discussed all of this as it relates to Wikileaks reported connection to the story . #Hannity #JulianAssange
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, in an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, said the Russian government was not the source of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign that his organization released during the 2016 presidential race.
Despite the Obama administration’s claims that Russia was behind cyber-intrusions meant to interfere with the U.S. election – and punitive measures taken against Moscow last week – Assange said nobody associated with the Russian government gave his group the files.
“We can say, we have said, repeatedly that over the last two months that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party,” Assange told Fox News, in an interview in London.
Assange also noted that in recent statements from top administration offices including the FBI and White House, “the word WikiLeaks” was missing, even as the administration expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation for cyberattacks.
“It’s very strange,” he said.
Some Republican critics have questioned what evidence the administration has to back up its Russia allegations, while others have applauded President Obama for moving to penalize Russia – albeit months after the initial hacks.
Asked if he thought Obama was lying to the American people about Russia’s actions, Assange said the president is “acting like a lawyer” with his allegations.
“If you look at most of his statements, he doesn’t say that. He doesn’t say that WikiLeaks obtained its information from Russia, worked with Russia,” Assange said.
But he said he believes the administration is “trying to delegitimize the Trump administration as it goes into the White House. They are trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate president.”
Since Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in November, Clinton’s allies have stepped up claims that the WikiLeaks email releases significantly damaged her candidacy – particularly the leak of thousands of emails from Campaign Chairman John Podesta’s account. An earlier release of DNC emails over the summer led to the resignation of Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Damning emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman did not come from Russian hackers and the claim is being made to “delegitimize” Donald Trump, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an exclusive interview.
Hannity sat down with Assange in London’s Ecuadorian embassy, where the Australian native has been holed up for five years battling extradition to Sweden on unrelated charges. Part I of the interview is set to air Tuesday night at 10 p.m. on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity.”
In excerpts released prior to airing, Assange is adamant that the hacked emails his organization released of Clinton official John Podesta did not come from Russia, as the Obama administration has claimed.
“We can say, we have said, repeatedly that over the last two months that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party,” Assange said.
More than 50,000 emails were released during the 2016 presidential campaign, exposing dubious practices at the Clinton Foundation, top journalists working closely with the Clinton campaign, key Clinton aides speaking derisively of Catholics and a top Democratic National Committee official providing debate questions to Clinton in advance.
Hannity told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer “I believe everything (Assange) said,” and praised the Internet activist for his commitment to government transparency.
Despite the Obama administration’s claims that Russia was behind cyber-intrusions meant to interfere with the U.S. election – and punitive measures taken against Moscow last week – Assange said nobody associated with the Russian government gave his group the files.
Assange also noted that in recent statements from top administration offices including the FBI and White House, “the word WikiLeaks” was missing, even as the administration expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation for cyberattacks.
“It’s very strange,” he said.
Some Republican critics have questioned what evidence the administration has to back up its Russia allegations, while others have applauded President Obama for moving to penalize Russia – albeit months after the initial hacks.
Asked if he thought Obama was lying to the American people about Russia’s actions, Assange said the president is “acting like a lawyer” with his allegations.
“If you look at most of his statements, he doesn’t say that. He doesn’t say that WikiLeaks obtained its information from Russia, worked with Russia,” Assange said.
But he said he believes the administration is “trying to delegitimize the Trump administration as it goes into the White House. They are trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate president.”
Since Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in November, Clinton’s allies have stepped up claims that the WikiLeaks email releases significantly damaged her candidacy – particularly the leak of thousands of emails from Campaign Chairman John Podesta’s account. An earlier release of DNC emails over the summer led to the resignation of Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Asked if the emails changed the outcome of the election, Assange said:
“Who knows, it’s impossible to tell. But if it did, the accusation is that the true statements of Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager, John Podesta, and the DNC head Debbie Wasserman Schultz, their true statements is what changed the election.”
Published January 03, 2017 | FoxNews.com
DIỄN ĐÀN VIỆT THỨC
KHƯỚC TỪ TRÁCH NHIỆM [DISCLAIMER]
Những tài liệu đăng trên DIỄN ĐÀN VIỆT THỨC nhằm thực thi tự do ngôn luận cá nhân, đa diện, tập thể, nên không phản ánh quan điểm hay lập trường của DIỄN ĐÀN VIỆT THỨC [Viet Thuc Foundation]. Mọi ý kiến và tài liệu đăng tại DIỄN ĐÀN VIỆT THỨC chỉ có tính cách thông tin, tham luận nhằm giúp độc giả gần gũi với thời cuộc liên quan tới văn hoá, giáo dục, kỹ thuật, kinh tế, xã hội, tài chính, luật pháp, chính trị, v.v. hiện hành tại Hoa Kỳ và trên thế giới.
Quý độc giả cần tìm hiểu kỹ lưỡng về sự chính xác, mức độ cần và đủ của tài liệu trước khi ứng dụng. Do đó DIỄN ĐÀN VIỆT THỨC khước từ trách nhiệm về nội dung và cách sử dụng những ý kiến, tài liệu và thông tin nhận được đăng trên bổn báo. Tuy nhiên, việc tham khảo thông tin và những ý kiến cần thiết, trình bày theo tinh thần cởi mở, tương kính, hoà nhã, sẽ giúp quý độc giả thêm phương tiện so sánh kiến thức một cách xây dựng, quy mô, đa dạng. Đó là điều mong ước của DIỄN ĐÀN VIỆT THỨC.
