INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Julian Assange: John Podesta’s Password Was ‘Password’ [Video]

By Tito Ojo-Medubi
Published on: 08:57 PST, Jan 4, 2017

Julian Assange has revealed that Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman’s password was “password.”

In an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday, the WikiLeaks founder said a 14-year-old could have hacked into Podesta’s computer without problems, adding that hackers unearthed the campaign chairman’s password because he responded to phishing emails.

“We published several…emails which show Podesta responding to a phishing email. Podesta gave out that his password was the word ‘password.’ His own staff said this email that you’ve received, this is totally legitimate. So this is something…a 14-year-old kid could have hacked Podesta that way.”

According to a CNN report, Podesta’s email account was hacked when he got a March 19 email from “Google” alleging that someone had his password and was trying to get into his account from Ukraine. Podesta’s assistant, Sara Latham, had forwarded the email to a Clinton campaign IT official, Charles Delavan, who deemed the message legit and urged the 67-year-old chairman to change his password, including the “Google” link where he could get it done.

“John needs to change his password immediately, and ensure that two-factor authentication is turned on his account…It is absolutely imperative that this is done ASAP.”

They did not know it was a phishing ploy to get his password and access his emails. When Podesta opened the link sent to him, he gave hackers access to his email. A cybersecurity firm, SecureWorks, said the hacking tactic was a typical method used by Fancy Bear, a notorious Russian hacker group, adding that it was deliberately hatched to target Mr. Podesta’s Gmail address.

John Podesta’s leaked emails sabotaged the Clinton campaign and, for some people, played no small role in seeing Mr. Trump elected into the White House. The whistle-blowing website published more than 50,000 emails from the Clinton camp. The contentious emails comprised of sharp practices at the Clinton foundation, a DNC official providing debate questions to Hillary Clinton way ahead of schedule, and some of her aides mocking Catholics. Assange also leaked emails that showed top journalists working behind the scenes for the Democratic nominee in return for favors.

“It’s more like ‘You rub my back, I’ll rub yours. I’ll give you information, you’ll come to my—I’ll invite you to my child’s christening or my next big party.'”

In his first face-to-face TV news appearance, the Australian programmer and journalist also revealed that Clinton made “almost no attempt” to keep her private emails protected from hostile countries during her time as secretary of state. According to the 45-year-old, Clinton tried to keep them away from the clutches of Republican loyalists but failed abysmally when it came to doing the same for opposing foreign nations.

Hannity interviewed Assange at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has been holed up for five years fighting extradition to Sweden after being accused of sexually assaulting two women. These are charges that the WikiLeaks founder continues to vehemently deny.

Despite claims by President Obama and security agencies that the Russians were responsible for the hacked emails, Assange insists that they are not involved. The 45-year-old criticized the outgoing president’s move to close two Russian compounds and expel 35 diplomats, adding that the 44th president of the United States was “trying to delegitimize the Trump administration.”

Around a week ago, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI released a 13-page report that Russia was guilty of cyber espionage and meddling with the U.S. elections. It was the first time the U.S. had officially admitted that the hackers were linked with Russian intelligence services, the GRU and FSB. The report said Russian operatives used false online personas to masquerade their attacks. It also noted the use of “spearphishing” campaigns or fake emails that stole usernames and passwords when attachments containing malicious software were opened.

Speaking to Hannity, Assange told him there was a disclaimer at the top of the report which pointed out that “there is no guarantee that any of this information is accurate.” According to him, there was nothing in the report to suggest that the Russians were responsible for the leaked emails. He blasted Democrats for pinning the blame on everything else but themselves, wondering why they felt victimized when everything revealed was nothing but the truth.

“It’s the same reason why they lost the election, which is instead of focusing on substance; they focused on other things [like] this attempt to say how outrageous it is that the American public received true information before an election.”

[Featured Image by Frank Augstein/AP Images]

Share this article: Julian Assange: John Podesta’s Password Was ‘Password’ [Video]
julian assange
More from Inquisitr