Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past few years (which may be for good reason if you have) you have surely heard of the controversial news organization known as Wikileaks. Founded by an Australian, Julian Assange, in 2006, Wikileaks boasts a claim to having a perfect record for authentication of documents and resisting censorship. However, that record is again being called into question following a series of events, tweets, and posts which some think might indicate that the organization is beholden to the #Trump White House, Russia, or both.

Raising suspicions

The roots of the current suspicions began when Wikileaks released a series of emails pertaining to the DNC and John Podesta. The emails revealed a treasure trove of conspiracy theorist validations and most notably, evidence of DNC and media collusion with the Hillary Clinton campaign. Democrats quickly pointed the finger at Russia, claiming Russia is Wikileaks' source with the agenda of helping to make Donald Trump win the presidency. Some questioned Wikileaks integrity, saying that the timing of the release was meant to influence the election for Trump.

Some Wikileaks followers and conspiracy theorists even went so far as to claim Assange had been assassinated and Wikileaks was now under the control of the CIA.

However, Wikileaks directly disputed claims that Russia provided the documents, as well as claims that Assange was killed or had otherwise lost control. Assange held an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit, giving followers some verification of his well being. Wikileaks also claimed that if it had information to release on Donald Trump it would do so.

Supporting Trump?

Following the election, Wikileaks appeared to be following through on their promise to release documents on Trump, asking in a tweet for any leakers to come forward with Trump's tax return.

However, no such documents have since been produced. With renewed interest in the Trump administration's possible connections in question, and many labeling Trump's claim that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower - dubbed #ObamaGate - as an effort by Trump to distract from Russia, it came as a shock to many when Wikileaks began posting about Trump's claim rather than possible ties to Russia.

While Wikileaks has recently remained silent on the topic of possible ties to Russia, Wikileaks made three posts to their official Facebook account Monday which showed support for Trump's claims of wiretapping. The first post included a screenshot of a description of documents detailing many cases of NSA spying on foreign communications including a UN climate change strategy meeting.

The second post said, "Did media/intelligence mislead Trump with fake spy stories? Or was reporting accurate and his campaign was spied on?" The post also included a link to a video of Mark Levin's recent interview with Fox News in which Levin claimed to show "evidence" of Trump's claims. Many have responded to Levin's claims stating that if a FISA warrant was indeed granted, it would only indicate suspicion of wrongdoing on the part of the Trump campaign, rather than overreach of the Obama administration.

The last post included a photocopy of a Search and Seizure Warrant dated March of 2012 and said, "Did Obama spy on Donald J. Trump's campaign? Here is proof the Obama administration spied on our journalists..." The photocopied document attached shows no proof of spying (although many would assume it likely) as the name to which the warrant pertains is redacted.

This immediately prompted some users to question Wikileaks integrity, with some calling Wikileaks "Breitbart 2.0." One commenter said, "Is this more evidence Wikileaks has been compromised since the election? It used to seem non-biased, but they love to suck up to Trump without ever saying anything against him." It would seem many Wikileaks followers have concluded that the evidence provided is merely anecdotal at best, and is unlike Wikileaks past record for journalistic integrity.
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