In a series of Tweets, Donald Trump has taken Julian Assange’s side against the FBI and CIA claims that Wikileaks received the released DNC emails from Russia.
The Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the CIA have all stated that they believe, and have evidence to show, that Russia was behind the hacking of the DNC and several other Democratic party members.
According to the official report , “This document provides technical details regarding the tools and infrastructure used by the Russian civilian and military Intelligence Services (RIS) to compromise and exploit networks and endpoints associated with the U.S. election, as well as a range of U.S. Government, political, and private sector entities.”
Trump has repeatedly denied that Russia has been behind the hacking of the DNC, and now Donald has lent his significant Twitter support to Julian Assange, who claims that Wikileaks did not receive the published emails from Russia. Assange also claims the hacks carried out against the DNC were not committed by Russia or Russian-sponsored actors.
Fox News host Sean Hannity recently flew to the United Kingdom for an interview with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy, where Assange has been staying for the past four years after fleeing from sexual assault accusations from Swedish authorities.
Assange claims in his interview with Fox that “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.”
Julian Assange said “a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta” – why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017
Interestingly, Hannity has in the past called for Assange to be brought up on espionage-related charges in the past. Hannity seems to have switched his tone after Donald Trump took a denial stance towards the purported Russian hacking.
However, the BBC reports “The information, released through Wikileaks and other outlets, was intended to help Mr Trump win the election, say the FBI and CIA.” This is another report in a string of them that Trump has refused to acknowledge the legitimacy thereof.
Donald Trump’s recent Tweets regarding Assange’s claims include scathing commentary on the DNC’s “hacking defense.” Trump also shifted the conversation from the DNC hack to the purported leak of debate questions to Hillary Clinton.
Trump agreed to meet with various US intelligence agencies to learn more about the breach, but supposedly the brief was delayed. The agencies denied that there was any delay.
Various members of the Republican party are not quite as fond of Julian as is Donald. House Speaker Paul Ryan called Assange a “sycophant for Russia,” reports The Huffington Post . “He leaks, he steals data, and he compromises national security,” Ryan continued.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton shared the sentiment, claiming he has more faith in US intelligence officers than someone like Julian Assange. CIA Director John Brennan questioned Assange’s honesty and truthfulness.
Considering that Trump and Assange both hold the view that Russia was not behind the DNC hacks, it is little surprise that Donald would support Julian. Trump also supports Assange’s claim that the media is extremely dishonest, and that blaming Russia for the hack is an attempt to delegitimize Trump’s upcoming presidency.
” @FoxNews : Julian Assange on U.S. media coverage: “It’s very dishonest.” #Hannity pic.twitter.com/ADcPRQifH9 ” More dishonest than anyone knows
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017
It will be curious to see what happens to the two men’s relationship once Trump is sworn in on January 20. Will Donald pardon Assange, or will the Wikileaks founder turn on the president-elect and start releasing dirt on Trump?
So what do you think of Trump’s stance on the United States’ intelligence agencies report? What about his support for Julian Assange? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below!
[Featured Image by Carl Court/Getty Images]
