“The Clinton camp has been able to project a neo-McCarthyist hysteria that Russia is responsible for everything,” Assange says. | Getty WikiLeaks' Assange denies Russia behind Podesta hack

Julian Assange is denying that the Russian government is the source of WikiLeaks’ trove of hacked emails from John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, that have produced embarrassing and potentially damaging messages about the Democratic nominee.

In an interview to be aired Saturday on the Russia-backed RT network, the WikiLeaks founder refutes the claim from Clinton’s campaign that Russia, with the backing of Donald Trump, is a culprit in the hack.


“The Clinton camp has been able to project a neo-McCarthyist hysteria that Russia is responsible for everything,” Assange said. “Hillary Clinton has stated multiple times, falsely, that 17 U.S. intelligence agencies had assessed that Russia was the source of our publications. That’s false — we can say that the Russian government is not the source.”

(WikiLeaks later felt a need to clarify the nature of the interview, tweeting, "Assange interview was not with RT. The interview was for the UK. Dartmouth Films then sold to broadcasters outside the UK, including RT.")

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on Oct. 8 issued a rare statement accusing Russia of deploying hackers to meddle with the U.S. election, in the wake of attacks on the Democratic National Committee and other Democratic targets.

U.S. officials have not formally blamed Russia for the specific hack of Podesta’s private emails, but the Clinton campaign has explicitly accused the Kremlin and researchers have also said they believe Russia stole the messages.

The emails, which Clinton's aides have refused to verify the authenticity of, have revealed excerpts of Clinton’s paid speeches before Wall Street and other audiences in which she talks about her dream of “a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders” — a view that appeared to conflict with her recent stances on the trail. They have also shown now-interim DNC chairwoman Donna Brazile apparently leaking questions to Clinton’s camp ahead of a CNN town hall and a CNN debate in Flint, Michigan.

Trump has pleaded ignorance about the source of the hack, but he’s exploited the messages during rallies, claiming they show further evidence of corruption in Clinton’s campaign.

