This
image of Donald Trump Jr.'s Twitter
account shows a series of direct
messages he received from the
Twitter account behind the WikiLeaks
website, including his responses to
the communications, which he posted
on Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. The direct
messages had been turned over to
congressional committees
investigating Russian intervention
in the 2016 election and if there
were any links to Donald Trump's
campaign. Trump Jr.'s release of the
messages on Twitter came hours after
The Atlantic first reported them.
(Donald Trump Jr.'s Twitter account
via AP)
Trump
Jr.
messaged
with
WikiLeaks
during
2016
campaign
By
MARY
CLARE
JALONICK
apnews.com
WASHINGTON
-
President
Donald
Trump’s
oldest
son
released
a series
of
private
Twitter
exchanges
between
himself
and
WikiLeaks
during
and
after
the 2016
election,
including
pleas
from the
website
to
publicize
its
leaks.
Donald
Trump
Jr.’s
release
of the
messages
on
Twitter
came
hours
after
The
Atlantic
first
reported
them
Monday.
In the
exchanges
— some
of them
around
the time
that the
website
was
releasing
the
stolen
emails
from
Democrat
Hillary
Clinton’s
campaign
chairman
—
WikiLeaks
praises
his
father’s
positive
comments
about
WikiLeaks
and asks
Trump
Jr. to
release
his
father’s
tax
returns
to the
site.
The
revelations
are sure
to
increase
calls in
Congress
to have
Trump
Jr.
testify
publicly
as part
of
several
committee
probes
into
Russian
interference
in the
2016
election.
And they
add a
new
element
to the
investigations
that
have
been
probing
for
months
whether
Trump’s
campaign
colluded
in any
way with
the
Russian
government.
In
an
intelligence
assessment
released
last
January,
the NSA,
CIA and
FBI
concluded
that
Russian
military
intelligence
provided
hacked
information
from the
DNC and
“senior
Democratic
officials”
to
WikiLeaks.
WikiLeaks
has
denied
that
Russia
was the
source
of
emails
it
released,
including
those
from
Clinton’s
campaign
chairman,
John
Podesta.
The
private
messages
released
by Trump
Jr. show
him
responding
to the
WikiLeaks
account
three
times,
at one
point
agreeing
to “ask
around”
about a
political
action
committee
WikiLeaks
had
mentioned.
He also
asked
the site
about a
rumor
about an
upcoming
leak.
The
messages
began in
September
2016 and
ran
through
July.
Trump
Jr.
downplayed
the
exchanges
as he
released
them.
“Here is
the
entire
chain of
messages
with @wikileaks
(with my
whopping
3
responses)
which
one of
the
congressional
committees
has
chosen
to
selectively
leak,”
he
tweeted.
“How
ironic!”
Trump
Jr.’s
lawyers
had
released
the
exchanges
to three
congressional
committees
that
have
been
investigating
Russian
intervention
in the
2016
election
and
whether
there
were any
links to
Trump’s
campaign.
In a
statement,
Trump
Jr.’s
lawyer
said
thousands
of
documents
had been
turned
over to
the
committees.
“Putting
aside
the
question
as to
why or
by whom
such
documents,
provided
to
Congress
under
promises
of
confidentiality,
have
been
selectively
leaked,
we can
say with
confidence
that we
have no
concerns
about
these
documents
and any
questions
raised
about
them
have
been
easily
answered
in the
appropriate
forum,”
said
Alan
Futerfas.
Futerfas
didn’t
say
which
forum he
was
referring
to, but
Trump
Jr. was
interviewed
behind
closed
doors by
Senate
Judiciary
Committee
staff in
September.
A person
familiar
with
that
meeting
said the
private
Twitter
messages
were
discussed.
The
person
declined
to be
identified
because
the
transcript
of that
interview
hasn’t
been
made
public.
In
one
message
dated
Oct. 3,
2016,
the
WikiLeaks
Twitter
account
sent
Trump
Jr. an
article
that
included
critical
comments
Clinton
had made
about
WikiLeaks
editor
Julian
Assange
and said
“it’d be
great if
you guys
could
comment
on/push
this
story.”
Trump
Jr.
replied:
“Already
did that
earlier
today.
It’s
amazing
what she
can get
away
with.”
Two
minutes
later,
Trump
Jr. sent
another
message:
“What’s
behind
this
Wednesday
leak I
keep
reading
about?”
Longtime
Trump
associate
Roger
Stone
had
tweeted
the day
before
that on
Wednesday,
“Hillary
Clinton
is
done,”
referencing
WikiLeaks.
The
WikiLeaks
Twitter
account
never
responded,
but days
later
WikiLeaks
started
rolling
out
Podesta’s
stolen
emails.
After
the
emails
were
released,
WikiLeaks
sent
Trump
Jr. a
searchable
link of
the
emails.
Trump
Jr.
tweeted
that
link two
days
later,
on Oct.
14,
2016,
The
Atlantic
noted.
The
rest of
the
messages
are
one-sided,
with
WikiLeaks
sending
Trump
Jr.
messages
through
July
2017.
They
include
praise
for his
father
for
mentioning
them on
the
campaign
trail, a
plea to
release
Trump’s
taxes to
the site
and
advice
on
Election
Day that
Trump
should
not
concede
if he
lost.
One
message
suggested
Trump
encourage
Australia
to
appoint
Assange
as U.S.
ambassador.
In
July,
the
Twitter
account
messaged
Trump
Jr. to
ask him
to give
the site
emails
surrounding
a
meeting
he and
other
Trump
associates
held
with
Russians
during
the
campaign.
Trump
Jr. then
released
them
himself.
Vice
President
Mike
Pence
responded
quickly
to the
revelations,
issuing
a
statement
through
his
press
secretary
that he
knew
nothing
about
the
situation.
“The
vice
president
was
never
aware of
anyone
associated
with the
campaign
being in
contact
with
WikiLeaks,”
said
spokeswoman
Alyssa
Farah.
“He
first
learned
of this
news
from a
published
report
earlier
tonight.”
Assange
tweeted
after
The
Atlantic
report
that he
couldn’t
confirm
the
messages
but then
defended
them
after
Trump
Jr.
released
them.
“WikiLeaks
appears
to
beguile
some
people
into
transparency
by
convincing
them
that it
is in
their
interest,”
Assange
tweeted.
Democrats
swiftly
reacted
to the
report,
saying
Trump
Jr.
should
provide
more
information.
California
Rep.
Adam
Schiff,
the top
Democrat
on the
House
intelligence
committee,
says it
“demonstrates
once
again a
willingness
by the
highest
levels
of the
Trump
campaign
to
accept
foreign
assistance.”
Schiff
also
pointed
to
Cambridge
Analytica,
a data
firm
that
worked
for
Trump’s
campaign
and
reached
out to
WikiLeaks
before
the
election
about
obtaining
emails
related
to
Clinton,
according
to the
company’s
CEO.
Democratic
Sen.
Richard
Blumenthal,
a member
of the
Senate
Judiciary
Committee,
said
that
panel
should
subpoena
the
documents
and
force
Trump
Jr. to
publicly
testify.
“There
seems to
be no
reasonable
explanation
for
these
messages,”
Blumenthal
said.
Senate
Judiciary
Committee
Chairman
Chuck
Grassley
had said
he would
call
Trump
Jr. to
publicly
testify
after
the
private
interview
in
September.
But
negotiations
over
witnesses
broke
down
last
month
amid
disagreements
with
Democrats
on the
panel.
The
House
and
Senate
intelligence
committees
are also
expecting
to
interview
Trump
Jr., but
those
interviews
are
expected
to be
behind
closed
doors.