South Carolina Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan praised WikiLeaks on Monday in a series of early morning Twitter messages, and criticized both the mainstream media for "colluding" with Hillary Clinton's campaign, and the FBI for "destroying" evidence related to Clinton's emails.

"Let me be clear: Thank God for WikiLeaks — doing the job that MSM WON'T!" Duncan wrote. "And if FBI had not destroyed evidence & ALL emails turned over — we would have a clear picture without Wiki."

The organization has released more than 12,000 emails obtained from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, as well as nearly 20,000 emails obtained from the Democratic National Committee. The group has said it could be sitting on at least 40,000 more that could emerge before the November election.

Not praise for Assange. Thankful info is out there for sure, but never have condoned illegal activity. Maybe if HRC hadn't destroyed emails — Rep. Jeff Duncan (@RepJeffDuncan) October 17, 2016

And if FBI had not destroyed evidence & ALL emails turned over - we would have a clear picture without Wiki. — Rep. Jeff Duncan (@RepJeffDuncan) October 17, 2016

Let me be clear: Thank God for Wikileaks - doing the job that MSM WON'T! #ASSANGE #wikileaks — Rep. Jeff Duncan (@RepJeffDuncan) October 17, 2016



It has been widely speculated that WikiLeaks obtained the messages through hacking, and United States intelligence officials said in a statement this month that some of the group's information likely came from cyberattacks originating with the Russian government. WikiLeaks has objected to that characterization, saying over the weekend that it was "bad journalism" to assume it had obtained information through hacking.

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"We have many sources and have not stated the methods we used to obtain each part," WikiLeaks said on Twitter.

Duncan said he condemned illegal methods despite the perceived benefit, and added a similar caveat for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. "Not praise for Assange. Thankful info is out there for sure, but never have condoned illegal activity. Maybe if HRC hadn't destroyed emails," Duncan said. "Crazy that public opinion is being driven this election cycle by an accused rapist hiding out in the embassy of foreign country."

Assange has been holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012, where he is avoiding extradition to Sweden on charges of assault. Assange has said the issue could serve as a pretense for taking him to the U.S. on espionage charges.