The head of a data-analytics firm that worked for President Donald Trump's campaign disclosed last year that he queried WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about aiding the release of Hillary Clinton's missing 33,000 emails.
Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica, told a third party in an email that he had approached Assange about helping with getting the documents published, The Daily Beast reports.
The report was based on "two sources familiar with a congressional investigation into interactions between Trump associates and the Kremlin."
Nix apparently said in the email that Assange told him that he didn't want Cambridge Analytica's assistance and that he "preferred to do the work on his own," according to the Daily Beast.
The privately held firm, founded in 2013, has not commented on the report, but Assange said in a statement: "We can confirm an approach by Cambridge Analytica and can confirm that it was rejected by WikiLeaks."
Clinton's missing 33,000 emails from her private server during her tenure as secretary of state have not been published.
Earlier this month, Cambridge Analytica said that it was complying with several congressional investigations into the Trump campaign's Moscow ties and that there was "no suggestion of wrongdoing."
In a statement, Michael Glassner, head of Trump's campaign committee, praised the Republican National Committee's voter-data efforts.
"Once President Trump secured the nomination in 2016, one of the most important decisions we made was to partner with the Republican National Committee on data analytics," Glassner said.
"Leading into the election, the RNC had invested in the most sophisticated data targeting program in modern American history, which helped secure our victory in the fall.
"We were proud to have worked with the RNC and its data experts and relied on them as our main source for data analytics," he said.
"Any claims that voter data from any other source played a key role in the victory are false."
In response to the Daily Beast report, House Intelligence Committee Co-Chairman Adam Schiff of California acknowledged Assange's confirmation — noting to CNN, however: "You have to take everything Julian Assange says with a certain grain of salt."
"Assange is not someone you can trust," the ranking Democrat told Wolf Blitzer, "so, it may or may not be significant.
"He confirms the contact. We may or may not be able to believe what else he has to say on this score.
"But it certainly does show a willingness now of at least a third party to reach out to those that are in possession of these stolen e-mails, those that are directly affiliated with Russian intelligence or working indirectly with Russian intelligence," Schiff said.
"That shows certainly a willingness by multiple parties in the campaign, similar to the Trump Tower meeting, where they expressed a willingness in receiving dirt about Hillary Clinton."
Schiff was referring to the June 2016 meeting arranged by Donald Trump Jr. with a Russian lawyer under the guise of obtaining the negative information.
Others attending the session were former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law who is now a top White House adviser.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.