julian assange operates from the ecuadorean embassy in london, where his internet connection was recently cut off. but that has not stopped him from being one of the most significant and unusual players in the 2016 election campaign in the united states. his wikileaks platform has released tens of thousands of hacked emails from inside hillary clinton <u+2019>s campaign and the democratic national committee, making mr. assange a reviled figure among supporters of the democratic nominee and a hero to backers of donald j. trump. on tuesday morning, mr. assange weighed in one last time as americans headed to the polls , releasing a statement that offered an explanation for making the leaks public, an assertion of impartiality and a defense of the wikileaks mission. <u+201c>the real victor is the u.s. public, which is better informed as a result of our work,<u+201d> mr. assange wrote, adding that his organization publishes information as quickly as possible and <u+201c>as fast as the public can absorb it.<u+201d> <u+201c>this is not due to a personal desire to influence the outcome of the election,<u+201d> he said. four years ago, mr. assange sought and was granted asylum in the ecuadorean embassy in london while he was being pursued in a swedish rape investigation, which he said was a cover for a united states effort to extradite him for publishing a trove of national security agency documents. ecuadorean officials have not sought to evict him, but last month said that his internet access was disabled out of fear that the country was being drawn into mr. assange<u+2019>s efforts to interfere with <u+201c>electoral processes.<u+201d> mr. assange<u+2019>s operation did not fold, but continued to publish daily releases of emails stolen from the accounts of john d. podesta, the chairman of mrs. clinton<u+2019>s campaign. wikileaks published another installment on tuesday, bringing the total number of messages made public to more than 58,000. the clinton campaign has declined to authenticate or comment on the emails, saying that the hack, which american intelligence officials believe originated in russia, was part of the russian government<u+2019>s efforts to meddle in the election to benefit mr. trump. the emails, at times, have been embarrassing to the clintons and their closest aides, revealing confidential and candid details about the inner workings of the campaign and the clinton foundation . it has also shined a light on the clintons<u+2019> private work, including lucrative speeches for banks like goldman sachs . while mr. assange has made no secret of his dislike for mrs. clinton, he said in his tuesday statement that wikileaks published the emails because it had the material and, <u+201c>it would be unconscionable for wikileaks to withhold such an archive from the public during an election.<u+201d> the lack of leaks pertaining to mr. trump, mr. assange said, resulted from the fact that his organization was not in possession of mr. trump<u+2019>s information. <u+201c>we cannot publish what we do not have,<u+201d> he wrote. he went on to criticize the new york times for withholding <u+201c>evidence of illegal mass surveillance of the u.s. population for a year until after the 2004 election,<u+201d> which he said denied vital information to voters about george w. bush. mr. assange, though, has faced similar criticism, with the suggestion that the leaks of emails from the clinton campaign and the democratic national committee were timed to inflict maximum damage or blunt negative stories about mr. trump. a first batch of democratic national committee emails <u+2014> which led to renewed anger about the party<u+2019>s treatment of bernie sanders<u+2019>s campaign <u+2014> were released on the eve of the party<u+2019>s summer convention. in the final month of the campaign, wikileaks unloaded the emails of mr. podesta, which cover a period of several years ending in the spring of 2016. the first portion of those emails were published the same day that a recording surfaced where mr. trump was caught on a hot microphone making lewd statements. find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via facebook , twitter and the morning briefing newsletter .
julian assange releases more emails and defends wikileaks<u+2019> mission
steve eder