Trump slammed for choosing to believe Julian Assange over U.S. intelligence

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy.

(Image credit: Carl Court/Getty Images)

published 4 January 2017

Donald Trump apparently liked what he heard on Fox News last night. The president-elect referred to Sean Hannity's Tuesday night interview with WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange in a tweet Wednesday morning, praising the doubt Assange cast on whether Russia was the responsible party behind hacks during the election season:

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Assange had not even been especially vehement in his denial of Russia as the perpetrator. "On the top [of the FBI and Department of Homeland Security's Joint Analysis Report on Russian interference in the U.S. election], there is a disclaimer saying nothing — there is no guarantee that any of this information is accurate," he told Hannity on Tuesday. "It's a guess," Hannity asked, and Assange shook his head. "I used to be a computer security expert," Assange said. "What they have is what they call indicators. So, a way to recognize if these tools, these alleged Russian tools, have been used on your system."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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