Wikileaks, serving as a conduit through which hacked data about Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was released, played a significant role during the 2016 election. Some have even suggested that it was key to getting Donald Trump elected president.
But according to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, his association with Trump ally Roger Stone is merely an attempt by Stone to troll Democrats.
In an interview Assange recently gave to Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, Assange was asked:
“Julian Assange, I wanted to ask you about Roger Stone. In March of 2016, he posted on Facebook that he, quote, ‘never denied that Assange and I had a mutual friend who told me Wikileaks had the goods on HRC’ — that’s Hillary Rodham Clinton— ‘and would begin disclosures in Oct. He did and they did. I didn’t admit it- I announced it.’ I now wanted to talk about the latest, Roger Stone going to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee and what came out of that. Your response to that?”
Assange attempted to downplay any connection to Stone:
“Roger Stone has been trolling Democrats all his life. And he’s doing exactly the same thing, in order to elevate his profile. That’s all. You can look at our statements at the time. He didn’t say anything that I hadn’t been saying in public at the time.”
But it’s what Assange said in response to another question from Goodman which raises the most suspicion. Asked about a statement from Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) regarding Stone’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, Assange defensively said:
“I would just say that the effectiveness of that trolling just shows you how mad the U.S. political culture has become. Is Roger Stone presented as a credible character in his statements? Is that a credible person? Do Democrats think that he’s credible?”
Seconds later, Assange began doubling down, repeating himself yet again in a bizarre attempt to try and discredit Stone and distance himself from the matter completely:
“The United States’ political culture has gone mad. Roger Stone is trolling epically the Democratic political class in order to elevate his profile. And it’s sad to see that Democracy Now. is buying into it.”
Does that mean that Assange denies any contacts with Stone or anyone else in the Trump campaign? He didn’t say, but his insistence on repeating a talking point about Stone not being credible seems to suggest that Assange knows the jig is up and that he may also be held liable if espionage can be proven. As Goodman reminded Assange:
“Presenting the news is not ‘buying into it.’ Presenting the news is having you respond to what he’s saying because you are at the center of this.”
If Assange has nothing to hide, why doesn’t he agree to talk to Special Counsel Robert Mueller? Is he afraid of what might happen to him if he admits his connections to Russia and Trump? Putin has been known to kill anyone who has dirt on him or his activities. Assange may be next on Putin’s hit list. He may also have just partially proven that he acted on behalf of Russia to help elect Trump.
Watch the interview for yourself:
Featured Image Via the BBC
