Assange: Hillary Email Leak Is Bigger Than Russia

Julian Assange has told reporters that the ongoing release of DNC and Hillary Clinton emails via Wikileaks has nothing to do with Russia.

Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” show, Assange insisted that the trove of emails ought to be the focus of media attention rather than whether or not Russia was behind the leak.

Politico.com reports:

“The difficulty that WikiLeaks has, of course, is that we can’t go around speculating on who our sources are. That would be irresponsible,” Assange said in the interview from Ecuador’s Embassy in London, where he has sought protection.

“We don’t give any material away as to who our sources are,” he added. “It’s a security matter for us as to who our sources are.”

Instead, Assange focused on the content of the emails, which appeared to show senior DNC officials working to undermine the presidential campaign of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in favor of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and resulted in the resignation of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

“What I can say categorically is that we have published proof that the election campaign of Bernie Sanders was sabotaged in a corrupt manner by Debbie Wasserman Schultz and others within the DNC,” Assange said. “We can say that categorically.”

Asked by NBC host Chuck Todd if WikiLeaks were aiming to help elect Republican Donald Trump and undermine Clinton, Assange called it “irrelevant.”

“It’s irrelevant,” Assange said. “That’s not why we publish.”

“We don’t have any concern as to whether Hillary is elected or Trump is elected,” Assange said. “We are concerned that the material we publish is always accurate, on the one hand, and that our sources are protected on the other.”

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said late last week that, while U.S. intelligence services are facing a “version of war” with Russia, it’s too soon to blame it for hacking the DNC.