Donald Trump took to Twitter on Thursday morning to call the media “dishonest” and ensure everyone that he’s actually a “big fan” of intelligence, even though it appears he prefers the word of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The dishonest media likes saying that I am in Agreement with Julian Assange – wrong. I simply state what he states, it is for the people….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2017
to make up their own minds as to the truth. The media lies to make it look like I am against "Intelligence" when in fact I am a big fan!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2017
Just a day prior, Trump, once again, downplayed Russia’s involvement in election-related cyber hacking, using Twitter on Wednesday to promote comments Assange made on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Tuesday night.
President Obama, CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper all agreed that the Russian government interfered with the election. But Trump appears to believe Assange’s claim that Russia was not his source for the hacked DNC and John Podesta emails that many have credited with influencing the presidential election.
Julian Assange said "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta" – why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017
Assange told Sean Hannity on Tuesday: “We have said, repeatedly, that over the last two months that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party.”
Ex Pentagon and CIA spokesman George Little, who served under former President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, recently denounced Trump’s apparent support of the WikiLeaks mastermind, saying on Twitter that “we will be less safe” once the president-elect takes office.
Meanwhile, President Obama clearly believes his own intelligence, as he took action against Russia for the alleged hacking just days ago.
Obama ordered the removal of 35 Russian intelligence officials from the U.S. and announced an executive order sanctioning nine Russian entities and individuals, including two Russian intelligence services, four individual Russian intelligence officers and three companies that provided material support for the country’s cyber operations.
The president has also ordered the State Department to shut down two Russian intelligence-gathering compounds in Maryland and New York. Obama previously vowed to retaliate against Russia for interfering the election in what U.S. intelligence agencies characterized as an attempt to help Trump win the White House.