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Donald Trump’s Alleged Ties To Russia: Julian Assange Says Wiki Leaks Isn’t Tied To Russia, Then Appears On Russian TV

By Christine Beswick
Published on: 06:42 PST, Nov 5, 2016

The words “Russia” and “Donald Trump” have been appearing a lot together in the last week, after a bombshell report by Newsweek on “Why Vladimir Putin’s Russia is Backing Donald Trump.” Julian Assange, founder of the alleged whistle blower website Wiki Leaks that Donald Trump is frequently tweeting about, has been quick to attempt some damage control on this reports Fortune Magazine.

Fortune Magazine says Julian Assange recently provided an interview where he says Wiki Leaks did not obtain their information from a “state actor” to Russia. This has led many Trump supporters to tweet a “Phew! See? No Russia in Wiki Leaks.” But were Julian’s damage control attempts enough to squash the notion that American intelligence officials have in fact confirmed a definite connection between Russia and Wiki Leaks?

The bias of Trump supporters, three days before an election, to squash Trump’s connections with Russia is clear. A Presidential candidate having established connections with the Kremlin would hurt his chances in the Presidential election. But American intelligence has no horse in this race.

Julian Assange citing un-named “state actors” as his source for Wiki Leaks may not be enough to convince the American public come election day.

Worse, Assange did not do much to compel the global public that Russia has no bearing on Wiki Leaks, when he engaged in an interview about the very topic with Russian Television. So, he says he has no connections with Russia, and then appears on Russian Television.

It is this kind of double-talking that has embodied the spirit of the Donald Trump campaign, and does little to dispel the notion that Donald Trump has at least some connections to Russia. This week on Twitter, the hashtag #TrumpsTiesToRussia trended, and few Americans that are not staunch Trump supporters are convinced there is not enough evidence to squash any notion that Trump is connected to Russia.

Worse, Newsweek‘s bombshell report provides compelling evidence to the contrary, directly from NATO sources, this week that starkly contradicts what Julian Assange is saying, and emphasizes possible ties between Trump and Russia. Kurt Eichenwald, senior Newsweek editor and author of the most recent Russian report, tweeted frequently about Donald Trump’s alleged Russian ties this week.

For Julian Assange to appear on Russian television to say he has no Russian connections and that Wiki Leaks doesn’t either, isn’t exactly comforting to many. Fortune Magazine reports Julian said that his website known as Wiki Leaks did not receive Hillary Clinton emails from a “state actor” to Russia. The wording is peculiar, and vague.

Also, the United States intelligence community, at the highest levels, directly disputes this reports CNN. Fortune Magazine reports that Julian Assange said the Clinton camp is promoting “neo-McCarthyist hysteria that Russia is responsible for everything.” This interview, for Russian Television, is expected to air tonight.

ABC News reports the White House was asked about Assange’s denial, and Press Secretary Josh Earnest responded, “Did you expect he would admit that?”

Indeed, Newsweek‘s report this week has outlined some of Donald Trump’s alleged Russian connections, and also said, NATO allies have “expressed alarm” about how Donald Trump has publicly disavowed any connection between Russia and the cyber attacks “designed to interfere with the U.S. election.” Newsweek says, Donald Trump has specifically been briefed by intelligence officials that Wiki Leaks information is “unreliable” and comes from Russia.

Donald Trump reportedly ignores the intelligence community and the officials at the highest level. Instead, as Newsweek reports, Donald Trump believes “this hacking of incredible sophistication and technical complexity could have been done by some 400-pound guy sitting on their bed, or even a child.”

Despite being briefed to the Russian connections with Wiki Leaks, Presidential nominee Donald Trump continues to tweet about it. His running mate Mike Pence, does not.

But Newsweek reports that the comments about Russia, Donald Trump, and Wiki Leaks hacking have not just alarmed American voters, but also, the world. NATO is reportedly not impressed. Newsweek says they have heard from officials in Europe that are greatly alarmed that Donald Trump is either not believing the American intelligence community, doesn’t understand the intelligence community, or worse is, “misleading the American public for unknown reasons.”

A British official reportedly called any of these scenarios “quite disturbing” according to Newsweek, saying that, their greatest fear is an American presidential nominee is continuing to ignore information by intelligence officials.

It is a concern, if that is what he is doing. Someone with access to the nuclear codes should by all rights be listening to the intelligence community, and it is a warranted concern to anyone in the 28-member-NATO alliance that a possible American President does not pay attention to intelligence officials “for unknown reasons.”

Are those unknown reasons related to the alleged relationship between Trump and Russia? The Toronto Sun reported this week on not just one, but many alleged links between Trump and Russia, many having been seemingly unwittingly reported by Trump himself. The Toronto Sun says, the question has been a recurring “undercurrent” of the presidential campaign.

The Toronto Sun asks, “Why does he keep praising its president, Vladimir Putin?” Canada is a member of the NATO alliance.

The Toronto Sun recalls a rally where Donald Trump reportedly said, referencing Vladimir Putin, “At least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country.” Donald Trump reportedly said that when Vladimir Putin condoned the killing of journalists.

The Toronto Sun also noted the time Donald Trump reportedly slammed Hillary Clinton for not praising Vladimir Putin. This occurred recently, reportedly, at an Ohio campaign rally.

“She speaks very badly of Putin, and I don’t think that’s smart. How do you speak so badly of someone?”

Donald Trump has also engaged in double talk about whether or not he actually has a relationship with Vladimir Putin. He told ABC he didn’t. But it was discovered in a 2013 interview, that took place in Moscow, that he said, “I do have a relationship with him” reports the Toronto Sun.

And also, the Toronto Sun also reiterates the alleged Russian hacking of the Democratic party. It is peculiar that Wiki Leaks only hacks one political party, lending further credibility to the allegation that Wiki Leaks is a partisan effort designed to interfere with the presidential election.

But the Toronto Sun says, it was a cyber security firm known as Crowd Strike that “found traces of at least two sophisticated hacking groups on the Democrat’s network – both with ties to the Russian government.”

So Julian Assange may be right. It may not be a “state actor” that is providing information to Wiki Leaks. But it has reportedly been found to be someone with “ties to the Russian government.” Whether that group or individual is a 400-pound person on their bed somewhere is unclear at this time, but, all evidence points to this being only one person, overweight or otherwise, as an unlikely scenario.

CrowdStrike reportedly has found one of the groups to be known as “Cozy Bear,” and that this group has not only infiltrated the Democratic Party, but also the White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon Joint Chief of Staffs. “Fancy Bear” is the second group, and has allegedly been targeting both public and private sector networks since the early 2000’s reports the Toronto Sun. Here’s more on Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear.

Is the FBI involved in any of these alleged connections between Russia and Wiki Leaks and/or the Trump campaign? The Toronto Sun notes that the FBI has declined to comment on this, however, the FBI is not legally empowered to discuss open investigations.

One thing can not be disputed, and that is, more Americans are reportedly more fearful about this election than at any other time in our time. These mysterious connections between the alleged Trump’s ties to Russia, his alleged disregarding of intelligence community, his alleged historical disrespect for NATO partners, and his potential access to the nuclear codes, are all among the many cited reasons why many Americans have fear today before they head to the polls to vote on Tuesday.

Even if the allegations of Trump’s ties to Russia were unsubstantiated at this point, the evidence from the intelligence community, America’s NATO partners, and the hacking of the DNC, all suggests information that is directly contradictory to Donald Trump and Julian Assange’s statements about Wiki Leaks, and Trump’s ties to Russia.

The biggest question then is, why? Julian Assange trying to persuade the American public about Wiki Leak’s alleged Russian connections, on Russian Television, may not help answer that question much. The American people will answer this question for themselves in the coming days.

[Feature Image by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images]

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