WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange believes America’s mainstream media are “erecting a demon” by slanting coverage in favor of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, which he accuses of “whipping up neo-McCarthyist hysteria about Russia.”
Assange’s comments came during a live interview with The New York Times over Facebook.
He said the recent notion promoted by CIA deputy director Michael Morell that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are being manipulated by Russian spies is ridiculous.
Morell, who has lived in the federal bureaucracy for more than three decades, penned an op-ed for the Times in early August that professed his admiration for Clinton and vowed to “do everything I can to ensure that she is elected our 45th president.”
According to Politico:
Morell also suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin has successfully co-opted Trump’s message in complimenting the political neophyte and getting exactly what he wanted in return with more praise even in light of his strongman tendencies toward journalists and dissidents.
“In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation,” Morell wrote.
On Wednesday, Assange told the Times Clinton is to blame for “whipping up a neo-McCarthyist hysteria about Russia.”
“What kind of press environment is this going to lead to post-election?” he questioned, according to Business Insider.
“The American liberal press, in falling over themselves to defend Hillary Clinton, are erecting a demon that is going to put nooses around everyone’s necks as soon as she wins the election, which is almost certainly what she’s going to do.”
Assange is the head of WikiLeaks, which published the infamous emails hacked from the Democratic National Convention that revealed party officials plotted against Clinton’s rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, during the primary.
Those emails led to massive protests at the Democratic convention and forced the resignation of top party officials, including DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who then took a job with Clinton’s campaign.
According to Business Insider:
Some critics have accused Assange and WikiLeaks of maintaining an anti-Clinton bias that in essence supports Trump, though Assange has likened the election to a choice between “cholera and gonorrhea.” Informal Trump adviser Roger Stone also claims to have been in indirect contact with Assange, whom he called a “hero” in August.
In Wednesday’s interview, Assange denied that he was defending Trump by claiming that the Republican presidential nominee had no significant financial ties to Russia.
WikiLeaks has also been criticized for offering a cash reward for information on the death of Seth Rich, a Democratic staffer, insinuating a potential conspiracy despite no evidence to support political foul play in his death.
Assange told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly last week that he plans to continue to release “thousands” of documents centered on Clinton and the Democratic National Committee as the presidential campaign progresses.
“We have a lot of material, thousands of pages of material,” Assange said, according to Politico. “There’s a variety of different types of documents and different types of institutions that are associated with the election campaign, some quite unexpected angles that are, you know, quite interesting, some even entertaining.”
Assange did not reveal when the documents might come out, but said he believes they will likely damage Clinton’s campaign.
“I think it’s significant,” he said. “You know, it depends on how it catches fire in the pubic and in the media.”
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