WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he is certain hacked emails didn't come from Russia
(Julian Assange.Screenshot/Fox News)
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told Fox News in an interview set to air Tuesday that hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman did not come from a Russian state source.
Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Assange whether he could "tell the American people 1,000%" that WikiLeaks did not get the hacked material that it published from Russia.
"Yes. We can say, we have said, repeatedly that over the last two months that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party," Assange said.
Assange's reliability on this matter is questionable. Former United Nations ambassador John Bolton, for instance, told Fox News on Tuesday that he wouldn't trust Assange.
Assange also accused the Obama administration of trying to undermine the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
"They're trying to delegitimize the Trump administration as it goes into the White House," Assange said. "They are trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate president."
The Obama administration has strongly condemned the hacks and increased sanctions on Russia.
US intelligence agencies have blamed Russia for leaking emails from DNC officials and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in the weeks and months leading up to the election. US officials have said Russia was attempting to sway the election in Trump's favor.
"Did it (WikiLeaks) change the outcome of the election? Who knows, it's impossible to tell," Assange told Fox. "But if it did, the accusation is that the true statements of Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager, John Podesta, and the DNC head Debbie Wasserman Schultz, their true statements is what changed the election."
Emails showed DNC officials seeming to favor Clinton over her Democratic primary challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders. The Podesta emails contained excerpts of Clinton's controversial speeches to the financial firm Goldman Sachs and also showed campaign officials speaking candidly about the election.
Trump has refused to pin blame on Russia for the hacks, and last week he said he had information others didn't on who was responsible.
"I also know things that other people don't know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation," he told reporters.
Asked what he knew that others did not, Trump replied: "You'll find out Tuesday or Wednesday."
It's unclear whether Trump was referring to the interview with Assange.
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