WikiLeaks rejects U.S. intelligence report that Russia leaked materials

WikiLeaks on Monday rejected a U.S. intelligence report that Russia passed on leaked information to the whistle-blowing site as part of efforts to influence the recent U.S. elections.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange dismissed a report published on Friday by the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency as “embarrassing’’ and said it lacked evidence.

The report was an example of how “the U.S. intelligence services have been politicised by the Obama administration,” Mr. Assange said.

Mr. Assange said although WikiLeaks was careful to protect its sources; however, the information it published, including emails and documents from the U.S. Democratic Party and John Podesta, Head of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, were from sources that “were not a state party.”

“If our source were a state, we would have a lot less concern in attempting to protect them,” he said.

Mr. Assange urged current members in charge of U.S. government computer servers to download and protect materials that otherwise risked “mass destruction’’ during the transition to the new administration under Donald Trump.

“Our philosophy is that such information is a part of history,” he said.

Mr. Assange also said he doubted that whistle-blowers would be safe under a Trump administration, and rejected claims that WikiLeaks had refrained from publishing leaked information from the Republican National Committee.

He has been at the Ecuadorian Embassy since 2012 after losing a legal battle in Britain against extradition to Sweden over a rape allegation that he denies.

Mr. Assange has said he fears he can be extradited from Sweden to the U.S. where he is wanted in connection to WikiLeaks’ publication of top secret diplomatic cables.

(dpa/NAN)