Leaked Assange message scotches one Trump collusion theory
A leaked message from Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, has disproven one of the Democrats' theories on Donald Trump's collusion with Russia.
The Intercept is reporting on a leaked private Twitter message calling Trump aide Roger Stone a "b‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑" (the word means someone who regularly lies or makes up stories) for implying that the operative had been in contact with Assange.
Stone hinted in public statements that he was in contact with Assange prior to the WikiLeaks release of DNC emails in October, 2016. Assange denied it.
In private Twitter messages exchanged in Aug. 2016, Assange referred to Stone as a "b‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑" who falsely implied in public statements that he was communicating with WikiLeaks, The Intercept reported Wednesday.
"Stone is a b‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑," Assange wrote to an associate in a private group chat.
"Trying to a) imply that he knows anything b) that he contributed to our hard work," he added.
Assange was responding to a news article that quoted Stone claiming he was in contact with Assange.
"I actually have communicated with Assange," Stone told a group of Florida Republicans on Aug. 8.
Stone, a longtime Republican operative who has known Trump for 40 years, made other cryptic comments suggesting he had foreknowledge of WikiLeaks' release of emails stolen from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's campaign manager John Podesta.
WikiLeaks began publishing Podesta's hacked emails in Oct. 2016. In July, the group dumped 20,000 emails that were stolen from the Democratic National Committee. The U.S. intelligence community believes the Russian government orchestrated the hacks and used WikiLeaks as a cut-out.
"Trust me, it will soon the Podesta's [sic] time in the barrel," Stone tweeted on Aug. 21, 2016.
The release of Podesta's emails two months later led to allegations that Stone and the Trump campaign cooperated with WikiLeaks and/or Russia.
"I think there's at least a reasonable belief that Mr. Assange may have passed this information onto Mr. Stone," Podesta said after his emails were released.
Stone responded at the time by softening his initial claim that he had direct contact with Assange.
"I had no advance knowledge. They don't tell me who [sic] they're hacking, they don't tell me who [sic] they're not hacking, and I'm not clearing what they put out. It's an absurdity, it would be funny if it wasn't so outrageous," Stone told The Daily Caller at the time.
I think this illustrates perfectly the quality – or lack thereof – of charges of collusion against Trump. Assange is 100% correct; Roger Stone is a publicity whore, a proven liar and dirty trickster. Stone probably admires Assange as someone who, like himself, can create havoc. But was he actually privy to WikiLeaks' email-leaking campaign? Doubtful.
Knowing Stone the man, no reasonable politician would have taken him at his word. But the Democrats are unreasonable and hysterical about Trump and will accept any falsehood – including the Steele dossier – as proof of Trump's guilt.
The same holds true of the Democrats' other "key" witness, Carter Page. Page was running around Washington in 2013 bragging that he was advising the Kremlin. This raised so many red flags that the FBI got a FISA warrant to spy on him. But national security experts are sure that Page was spouting off and not seriously involved with the Russians, even though they tried to recruit him as a spy. They eventually gave up on that when Page was revealed to be uninformed about Russia and the U.S.
The irony of the leaker being the target of leaks is rich. Assange may have, indeed, been a Russian cut-out, unaware that he was being used by the Kremlin. But a conscious Russian agent doing Putin's bidding? Absurd.