Washington (CNN) Hillary Clinton said Thursday that Julian Assange -- whose organization, WikiLeaks, played a damaging role in her 2016 electoral defeat -- needs to "answer for what he has done."

Assange was arrested earlier Thursday by British police at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on a US extradition warrant, bringing his seven-year stint there to a dramatic close. He was arrested on charges that he skipped bail in the UK in 2012 and at the request of US authorities, London's Metropolitan Police said.

Speaking at an event at the Beacon Theater in New York with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, the former secretary of state was asked if she cared to comment because she has "some familiarity with the work of Mr. Assange."

Clinton laughed.

"I do, I do," she said.

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