WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange insisted that the hacked emails from the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta did not come to his organization through Russian state actors. But, when it came to the documents sent to reporters at Gawker and The Hill, he couldn’t be so sure.
"Our source is not the Russian government," Assange told Sean Hannity on his radio program Thursday.
"So in other words, let me be clear," Hannity asked, "Russia did not give you the Podesta documents or anything from the DNC?"
"That's correct," Assange responded.
The organization has a policy of not disclosing source information, but Assange said he’s had to break this rule to avoid ‘distraction attacks’ against WikiLeaks.
"We’re unhappy that we felt that we needed to even say that it wasn’t a state party. Normally, we say nothing at all," Assange told Hannity. "We have ... a strong interest in protecting our sources, and so we never say anything about them, never ruling anyone in or anyone out.
"And so here, in order to prevent a distraction attack against our publications, we’ve had to come out and say ‘no, it’s not a state party. Stop trying to distract in that way and pay attention to the content of the publication.’"
But as far as the leaks provided to Gawker and The Hill from Guccifer 2.0, Assange said it's possible they came from Russia.
“Now, who is behind these, we don’t know,” he said. “These look very much like they’re from the Russians. But in some ways, they look very amateur, and almost look too much like the Russians.”