Originally appeared at A-specto, translated by Borislav exclusively for SouthFront
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denied allegations that Russia is associated with the hacking which resulted in leaked emails from the National Committee of the Democratic Party and John Podesta, head of the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton. Asked if he could say with certainty that the information acquired by his site has not been provided by Russia or by someone connected with the Russian government, Assange said: “Yes. We can say, and we have repeatedly said over the past two months that our source is not the Russian government.”
All publications are reliable but the revelations are in conflict with the official position represented by “the Obama White House” stated Assange. According to him, the reason is obvious – the administration of the outgoing President is trying to delegitimize Trump before he even enters the White House. “They are trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate president” he said.
While this is not the first time that Assange answers the question, it seems that only now are his words taken into account. In an interview for RT in November last year, he said that Hillary Clinton repeatedly lied in saying that 17 US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia is the source of the WikiLeaks publications. Already then, Assange stated that the loopholes in American cybersecurity have nothing to do with the demonized country: “This is not true – we can say that the Russian Government is not the source.”
Assange could not say whether the leaks affected the US elections, but certainly Hillary Clinton’s statements and those of senior officials of the Democratic Party “have changed the course of the elections.” The case of the alleged Russian hackers is gaining momentum from the presidential campaign to now. The culmination was last week when Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats. The outgoing US president actions were seen as an attempt to deteriorate the diplomatic relations between the US and Russia.
If Russian President Vladimir Putin had succumbed to this provocation, there would be a serious obstacle to the intentions of the newly elected US president Donald Trump, to restore relations with Russia. Moreover, Obama’s recent actions are completely unfounded. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s report, which stretches just over 13 pages, clearly states that anyone could hack the emails of the National Committee of the Democratic Party, and the only thing needed was to purchase a specific kind of Ukrainian malware.
It would be professional suicide for Assange to reveal his source, but at the moment it comes down to his word against that of Obama, who is supported by 17 intelligence agencies, although none of them is yet to provide tangible evidence to support the charges against Russian hackers. One thing is for certain – there is an obvious attempt to deteriorate US-Russian relations by the Obama administration in the last hours they are in charge.
