The real reason Donald Trump’s campaign data firm Cambridge Analytica met with Julian Assange
Like a complex connect the dots picture, the final image is starting to come into focus on the ways in which the Russians illegally meddled in our 2016 presidential election. Day after day, the disclosures come out and the missing connectors emerge. (And as an aside, to date, nothing in the Steele Dossier has been debunked.)
The latest news potentially connects Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, with Cambridge Analytica. Brittany Kaiser, whose LinkedIn profile shows her roles at Cambridge Analytica as Director of Program Development from 2014 to March 2018 and as Business Development Director from February 2017 to March 2018, reportedly visited Assange in February 2017 (around time of her Business Development Director role) to discuss what happened during the 2016 elections in the United States. In addition, according to The Guardian she also “claimed to have channelled cryptocurrency payments and donations to WikiLeaks. This information has been passed to congressional and parliamentary inquiries in the UK and US.”
The disclosures by Kaiser raise questions about the nature of the relationship between Cambridge Analytica and WikiLeaks. Both organizations are under investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and this latest development raises what surely will be continued avenues of inquiry by Mueller and his team. Assange has denied any acceptance of offers from Cambridge Analytica and has stated he rejected any offers. However, a review of the Ecuadorian embassy where Assange is holed up confirms that Kaiser did in fact visit the embassy. The Guardian reports: “Brittany Kaiser, a senior executive at Cambridge Analytica until earlier this year, visited Assange on 17 February 2017. Information passed to the DCMS committee in the UK and the Senate judiciary committee in the US states that the meeting was ‘a retrospective to discuss the US election.’”
The Mueller team surely is reviewing this information and connecting more dots. And despite Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal shill, falsely continuing to claim that Mueller’s team is made up of thirteen Democrats, the team will do what good law enforcement officers do: their jobs for justice. The final picture in the connect the dots is coming together. Do you see collusion and obstruction with a familiar face in the middle?
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.