X

WikiLeaks' Assange shows pro-Republican view in reported leaks

In private chat conversations a year before Donald Trump was elected, the WikiLeaks founder criticized Hillary Clinton as a "sadistic sociopath," The Intercept reports.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Stephen Shankland
Julian Assange speaks to press from the Ecuadorian Embassy balcony in London in May 2017.

Julian Assange speaks to press from the Ecuadorian Embassy balcony in London in May 2017.

Jack Taylor/Getty Images

Julian Assange , the WikiLeaks founder more accustomed to publishing others' secrets, has apparently become the subject of a new leak that shows him favoring the Republican Party a year before Donald Trump was elected.

In a private Twitter chat group, Assange called Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton a "bright, well-connected, sadistic sociopath" and said, "We believe it would be much better for the GOP to win," according to The Intercept. The authenticity of the 11,000-message conversation couldn't be verified, but The Intercept said it came from a former WikiLeaks supporter in the chat group and verified that the message group and its messages exist.

WikiLeaks didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

WikiLeaks was involved in the controversial 2016 election, publishing alleged messages from Clinton campaign chief John Podesta and corresponding with Donald Trump Jr. before and after the election.

Assange has been holed up in a small room in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for more than five years to avoid extradition for a rape charge in Sweden. The country dropped that charge but he's still facing a UK charge of skipping bail.