WikiLeaker: Assange's Beef With Clinton Is 'Personal'

WikiLeaks continues to release hacked emails that are causing headaches for Hillary Clinton, and the reason might stem from her public criticism of the whistleblowing organization back in 2010. When WikiLeaks released classified US documents back then, Hillary Clinton as secretary of state condemned the group, accused it of putting lives at risk, and promised to hold it accountable. "It was an anxiety-inducing time," writes former WikiLeaks staffer James Ball at BuzzFeed. The US already was hurting WikiLeaks by this time, "and the figurehead of this whole response was none other than Hillary Clinton," writes Ball, who recalls watching the Clinton news conference in 2010 with his boss. "For Assange, to an extent, this is personal."

But is Assange a lackey of Vladimir Putin? Not so much, writes Ball. If anybody gave him such stolen information, he'd be happy to run with it. Assange, he adds, views himself as "the equal of a world leader," and see this as a big opportunity. "This is his shot at reclaiming the world stage, and settling a score with Hillary Clinton as he does so." The essay goes into detail about what it was like to work in the "paranoid" group, whose decisions are made exclusively by Assange himself. ("He dislikes taking advice.") Ball also says one thing often underestimated is Assange's "gift for bull----," his ability to tell lies big and small, often for PR effect. Click for the full essay, which lays out similarities between Assange and Donald Trump. (More Julian Assange stories.)