Trump and Palin break with GOP
Trump, Palin break with GOP, warm up to Assange
Story highlights
- Both Donald Trump and Sarah Palin had supportive words for Julian Assange
- Trump's comments again put him at odds with Republican leaders on the Hill
(CNN)President-elect
Donald Trump on Wednesday used comments from WikiLeaks founder Julian
Assange to continue raising questions about the allegation that Russian
hackers attempted to influence American politics -- a charge the US
intelligence community and the Obama administration has defended with
increasing vigor.
Trump tweeted
Wednesday morning, hours after the broadcast of an interview Assange
gave Fox News' Sean Hannity, to blame Democrats for not having tighter
cybersecurity.
"Somebody
hacked the DNC but why did they not have 'hacking defense' like the RNC
has and why have they not responded to the terrible things they did and
said (like giving the questions to the debate to H). A total double
standard! Media, as usual, gave them a pass."
Trump's
comments again put him at odds with Republican leaders on the Hill --
including Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan -- who have shown support
for the Intelligence Community's uniform assessment that Russia hacked
American political targets with the intent of disrupting US elections.
The
Vice President-elect said Wednesday at a press conference that Trump
has a "healthy American skepticism" about the conclusions made by the
intelligence community.
"I
think that the President-elect has expressed his very sincere and
healthy American skepticism about intelligence conclusions," said Mike
Pence, who said he's received regular intelligence briefings.
When
asked about Assange on Hugh Hewitt's radio show Wednesday morning, Ryan
responded, "I have really nothing (to say) other than the guy is a
sycophant for Russia. He leaks. He steals data and compromises national
security."
Sen.
Lindsey Graham said Wednesday that Americans -- including the
President-elect -- should stay away from giving Assange much credibility
considering his views of the United States.
"I
don't believe any American should give a whole lot of credibility to
what Mr. Assange says," the South Carolina Republican said on CNN's "At
this Hour."
"In Julian Assange's
world, we're the bad guys -- not the Iranians, not the Russians, not the
North Koreans. You gotta remember who this guy is."
US
intelligence agencies are a far more reliable source on foreign
involvement in an American election than Assange, Graham said.
"Mr.
Assange is a fugitive from the law, hiding in an embassy, who has a
history of undermining American interest. I hope no American will be
duped by him," he said.
"I hope the
President-elect will get his information and trust the American
patriots who work in the Intelligence Community who swear oaths of
allegiance to the Constitution and not some guy hiding from the law who
has a record of undercutting and undermining American democracy."
The
DNC responded to Trump's message Wednesday, saying the President-elect
is " is putting his own insecurities ahead of national security because
he is sensitive about how he won."
"It's
nothing short of terrifying that Trump has chosen to take the word of
an enemy of our country over the word of 17 United States intelligence
agencies including the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA," Adrienne Watson, DNC
national press secretary, said in a statement. "Trump is jeopardizing
America's future with his fear of offending Vladimir Putin."
In
the Fox News interview, Assange denied that Russia was the source of
leaked Democratic emails that roiled the 2016 election to the detriment
of Trump's rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Instead,
Assange said the documents -- which were stolen from Clinton campaign
chairman John Podesta's email -- were easily obtained through a
"phishing" solicitation, whereby Podesta mistakenly gave up his
password.
"We published several emails which show Podesta responding to a phishing email," Assange said during the interview.
"Podesta gave out that his password was the word password. His own
staff said this email that you've received, this is totally legitimate.
So this is something ... a 14-year-old kid could have hacked Podesta
that way."
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- an early Trump supporter -- responded to Assange's interview with an apology and a reversal.
Palin
lavished praise on Assange in a Facebook post after watching Assange on
Fox. She wrote that Podesta's emails contained "important information
that finally opened people's eyes to democrat candidates and operatives"
and which "would not have been exposed were it not for Julian Assange."
"I apologize for
condemning Assange when he published my infamous (and proven
noncontroversial, relatively boring) emails years ago," she wrote.
Palin
had previously been a strident critic of Assange and WikiLeaks: The
site had published some of Palin's personal emails in 2008, which were
hacked while she was a candidate for vice president, and Palin accused
Assange of endangering US military personnel by publishing a raft of
State Department cables containing highly sensitive information.
In a 2010 Facebook post,
she had written, "Assange is not a 'journalist,' any more than the
'editor' of al Qaeda's new English-language magazine Inspire is a
'journalist.' He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands."
A former Pentagon and CIA spokesman on Wednesday slammed Trump for
giving credit to Assange, warning that he thought America will be less
safe when the President-elect takes office later this month.
"Let's
stare this reality square in the face: PEOTUS is pro-Putin and believes
Julian Assange over the @CIA. On Jan. 20 we will be less safe," tweeted
George Little, who served under former President George W. Bush and
President Barack Obama.
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