Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday defended the leakage of U.S. Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails and denied supporting her Republican rival, Donald Trump.
“The reasons behind Wikileaks failure to release information on Donald Trump or any other candidate were practical and not tactical,” Assange said.
Assange said these on the eve of one of the most scandal-ridden U.S. elections in the country’s history.
The Wikileaks founder, who had been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for four years, denied being motivated by influencing the outcome of the election.
He added that “no one disputes the public importance of these publications; it would be unconscionable for Wikileaks to withhold such an archive from the public during an election.
“At the same time, we cannot publish what we do not have.
“To date, we have not received information on Donald Trump’s campaign, or Jill Stein’s campaign, or Gary Johnson’s campaign or any of the other candidates that fulfills our stated editorial criteria.”
He said Wikileaks remained committed to publishing information that informs the public, even if
many, especially those in power, would prefer not to see it.
