https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/dncleak-five-times-wikileaks-and-russia-have-crossed-paths-20160728-gqfq8b.html
Since WikiLeaks started releasing the private emails of the Democratic National Committee, the digital activist group has been forced to fight accusations that it is trying to harm the Democratic Party and help Donald Trump get elected. The DNC hack and leaks comes as Trump himself is suspected of having ties to Russia. Because experts believe Russian hackers accessed the DNC documents, suspicions about a WikiLeaks-Russia connection flourish. Julian Assange speaks via video link from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Julian Assange speaks via video link from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London Russia and WikiLeaks just keep crossing paths. In WikiLeaks' current form, the organisation has taken roles in disseminating information about geopolitical events at a critical time in which such information could shift events in the field. Instead of simply providing transparency, the information can be used to confuse or be wilfully misinterpreted – particularly if networks of bloggers, tweeters and meme generators recirculate it. WikiLeaks is promising more leaks about the DNC. Here are examples of times WikiLeaks and Russia have crossed paths. 1. Russian media Julian Assange on Russia-owned network RT. Julian Assange on Russia-owned network RT.CREDIT:CHRIS ZAPPONE Julian Assange's dealings with Russia date back at least as long as his short-lived show on the Russia Today network, one of Russia's foreign-language media outlets that mix hard news with conspiracy. During the show's short run, Assange himself predicted he would be called a "traitor" for "getting into bed with the Kremlin" and interviewing "terrible radicals from around the world". Since then he is a frequent topic or guest of the Russian-backed media. 2. Syria meeting The WikiLeaks Party, the group's political arm chaired by Assange, participated in a "solidarity meeting" with Russia's ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2013. Assange's father John Shipton participated in the event in Damascus. The purpose of the visit, which occurred after the WikiLeaks Party's support in an Australian federal election collapsed, was "to show solidarity with the Syrian people and their nation." On its website, WikiLeaks Party said it "was the first party in Australia to warn of the deadly consequences of any Western military intervention in Syria". Averting Western military action has been Russia's long-standing position. After the meeting generated some controversy, Julian Assange was at pains to distance himself from the decision by WikiLeaks Party to attend. 3. Edward Snowden WikiLeaks was "intimately involved" in Edward Snowden's evasion of Western authorities, after he leaked US National Security Agency intelligence documents to a select group of journalists in 2013. In fact, Assange dispatched a WikiLeaks team member, Sarah Harrison, to Hong Kong, where Snowden first revealed himself. Harrison "worked in Hong Kong as part of the WikiLeaks team that brokered a number of asylum offers for Snowden and negotiated his safe exit from Hong Kong". Assange later told the British media that "Snowden was well aware of the spin that would be put on it if he took asylum in Russia". Assange said Snowden preferred Latin America "but my advice was that he should take asylum in Russia despite the negative PR consequences", in part because it would be harder for him to be caught and returned to the US. 4. An anti-Western bias WikiLeaks' seeks "transparency" primarily from countries and organisations that Russia opposes. These often include US organisations (such as private intelligence group Stratfor), the International Monetary Fund or the EU. More to the point: there are few big leaks from authoritarian nations, except for arguably Saudi Arabia - which is also a Western ally. Recently, Assange has defended his apparent bias towards Russia by claiming to have published "2.5 million [documents] about Russia + Syria". Yet these same documents are from Western sources. A glance at the "leaks" show a preponderance of Western sources, and Turkey, a NATO member which has been at odds with Russia over the past year. Assange has a history with the US of course. He has remained at the embassy of Ecuador in London since 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden to answer questions about an alleged rape. Assange fears that if he exits the embassy, or travels to Sweden, he will ultimately be arrested and extradited to the US, where he could stand trial for his role in the Cablegate leaks and be given a long sentence such as that received by Chelsea Manning, the US soldier found guilty of giving the classified documents to WikiLeaks. Manning was sentenced to 35 years' jail in 2013. 5. Pro-Russia views WikiLeaks' Twitter account publishes pro-Russia material or even ideas and content directly from Russia. For example, in 2015, after Turkey shot down a Russian aircraft that passed briefly over its airspace, WikiLeaks tweeted Russia's version of the plane's flightpath.
