Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, defended his website’s decision to publish thousands of internal emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign in a statement Tuesday on the U.S. election.
“[I]rrespective of the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential election, the real victor is the US public, which is better informed as a result of our work,” Assange said.
WikiLeaks has weathered fierce criticism from Clinton and her allies, who have accused the transparency site of empowering Russian-backed actors in their quest to influence the presidential race.
“We publish material given to us if it is of political, diplomatic, historical or ethical importance and which has not been published elsewhere. When we have material that fulfills this criteria, we publish,” Assange said.
Describing the volume of documents WikiLeaks received from both the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, Assange argued: “It would be unconscionable for WikiLeaks to withhold such an archive from the public during an election.”
The WikiLeaks founder said his site never received material related to Donald Trump, Green Party candidate Jill Stein or Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson.
“[W]e cannot publish what we do not have,” he said.
Since Oct. 7, WikiLeaks has published thousands of Podesta’s emails in 35 separate batches.
The records have exposed transcripts from Clinton’s past paid speeches, deliberations about Clinton Foundation conflicts of interest and internal concerns about the unfolding private server controversy.
An earlier document release related to the DNC led to the ouster of DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz in July after emails revealed her underhanded efforts to boost Clinton over Sen. Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary.
“Publishing is what we do. To withhold the publication of such information until after the election would have been to favour one of the candidates above the public’s right to know,” Assange said.
The controversial journalist presently resides in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has sought asylum from Swedish rape charges. Assange maintains that the allegations were politically motivated, and has repeatedly expressed his fear that the U.S. would attempt to extradite him were he to submit to Swedish authorities.
Assange claimed on Tuesday that the Clinton campaign had spread “obvious untruths” by suggesting Russia was involved in the acquisition of the leaked emails or that some of the documents were doctored.
“In the end, those who have attempted to malign our groundbreaking work over the past four months seek to inhibit public understanding perhaps because it is embarrassing to them — a reason for censorship the First Amendment cannot tolerate,” Assange said.
