WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange: Justice Dept. Set a 'New Standard' for Clinton Email Investigation

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, seeking an end into the investigation into his publication, said Monday that the Department of Justice established a "new standard" with its investigation into Hillary Clinton.

"Our D.C. lawyers are delivering a letter tomorrow to Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking her to explain why it is that the now six-year-long national security and criminal investigation being run against WikiLeaks — the reason I have political asylum — has not been closed," Assange told CNN host Jake Tapper.

Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

Wondering why the WikiLeaks investigation remains ongoing, Assange argued that it seems the Justice Department boasts a "new standard" because the Clinton probe "has only gone for one year."

"Hillary Clinton’s case has been dropped, the case against WikiLeaks continues," he said. "So why is it that the quote, ‘pending law enforcement proceedings’ against WikiLeaks continue? There’s a problem here."

Assange compared the probe into his whistleblower publication, WikiLeaks, to the investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state, noting that the FBI ultimately determined the Democratic presidential nominee had no criminal intent.

"It was closed under the basis that [FBI Director] James Comey said that they couldn’t establish that there was an intent to damage national security. In our case, there’s no allegation that we have done anything except publish information for the public," he said. "The U.S. government had to say under oath in 2013 not a single person has been physically harmed by our publication. You don’t have intent. You don’t have serious harm."

The CNN host then asked Assange why he is "so seemingly determined to affect the election here in the United States." In response, the computer programmer said Tapper was just parroting the tactics used by the Clinton campaign to discredit what WikiLeaks has revealed.

"Of course they’re desperate for anything," Assange remarked. "We operate and report on all different countries. We have staff in the United States. That’s what we do for every country."

He continued, "Once again, they’re trying to distract from the revelations that caused four, the top four officials, including [former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman] Debbie Wasserman Schultz, to resign."

Assange's comments come after WikiLeaks published thousands of compromising internal emails from within the Democratic National Committee. The emails seemed to be aimed at damaging Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign primary campaign against Clinton.

Watch the interview below:

(H/T: The Hill)

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