Wikileaks is a non-state "hostile intelligence service" often abetted by state actors, according to the agency's director.
Wikileaks is a non-state “hostile intelligence service” often abetted by state actors, according to the director of the CIA.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo has denounced the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks as a ‘‘hostile intelligence service” https://t.co/63WI8Qdh6Y pic.twitter.com/3wikz4sAYq
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) 14 avril 2017
What did Mike Pompeo say?
“Wikileaks walks like a hostile intelligence service and talks like a hostile intelligence service,” Pompeo told an audience at a Washington think tank.
2016 election leaks
Wikileaks released Democratic emails during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The US intelligence services say these were hacked by Russia to try to tilt the election against the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in favour of Republican Donald Trump, the eventual winner.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said the release was not intended to influence the election.
CIA leaks
In March, Wikileaks published documents describing secret Central Intelligence Agency hacking tools and sections of computer codes.
However, the website did not publish the full programs that would be needed to conduct cyber exploits against phones, computers and internet-connected televisions.
Julian Assange
Assange, a native of Australia, has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012.
He took refuge there to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape, which he denies.
Here's the Washington Post Op Ed by Assange that CIA Director Pompeo reacted to today https://t.co/xsbRyavEOl
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) 13 avril 2017