Bombshell: Manafort Reportedly Held Secret Talks with Julian Assange in Ecuadorian Embassy

Colby HallNov 27th, 2018, 9:48 am
 

London-based news outlet The Guardian just published an exclusive report that presents a bombshell of sorts into the current investigation of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign by  Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

At issue in the investigation is whether or not the Trump campaign knowingly worked with Russian officials that acted with malign intent in interfering with the 2016 general election that led to President Donald Trump moving into the White House.

It is well established that under the hacker pseudonym Guccifer 2.0, Russian operatives were able to hack into private DNC servers, then worked closely with WikiLeaks to release information that was damaging to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Trump has constantly denied any collusion, and there has been no public evidence of coordination, collaboration, and collusion. Until now, perhaps.

Reporting for The Guardian, Luke Harding, and Dan Collyns report:

Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and visited around the time he joined Trump’s campaign, the Guardian has been told.

Sources have said Manafort went to see Assange in 2013, 2015 and in spring 2016 – during the period when he was made a key figure in Trump’s push for the White House.

It is unclear why Manafort wanted to see Assange and what was discussed. But the last meeting is likely to come under scrutiny and could interest Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor who is investigating alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

A well-placed source has told the Guardian that Manafort went to see Assange around March 2016. Months later WikiLeaks released a stash of Democratic emails stolen by Russian intelligence officers.

Manafort, 69, denies involvement in the hack and says the claim is “100% false”. His lawyers declined to answer the Guardian’s questions about the visits.

If the eventual Trump Campaign manager had met with Julian Assange in advance of WikiLeaks releasing stolen information in advance of the General Election? Well, it may not be a smoking gun, but the trail of smoke would likely lead investigators to the metaphorical gun.

The Mueller Investigation has been on something of a Public Relations pause since announcing more indictments of Russian operatives in late Summer. This was in large part due to the policy of not releasing investigative information close to an election. But now that the midterms are three weeks behind us, many are expecting more news to come.

UPDATE: WikiLeaks pushes back on this report via Twitter:

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Colby Hall - Founding Editor

Colby Hall is the Founding Editor of Mediaite.com. He is also a Peabody Award-winning television producer of non-fiction narrative programming as well as a terrific dancer and preparer of grilled meats.