WikiLeaks pushes back on report of Assange-Manafort talks
Report comes a day after Manafort accused of lying to US investigators
WikiLeaks on Tuesday hit back against a media report that its founder, Julian Assange, held secret talks with Paul Manafort, a former campaign manager for Donald Trump.
The Guardian reported that meetings between Mr Manafort and Mr Assange took place in 2013, 2015 and in spring 2016.
“Remember this day when the Guardian permitted a serial fabricator to totally destroy the paper’s reputation,” WikiLeaks tweeted. The organisation added that it “is willing to bet the Guardian a million dollars and its editor’s head that Manafort never met Assange.”
Mr Manafort in September agreed to co-operate with Robert Mueller’s probe into possible links between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia after pleading guilty to conspiracy and witness tampering.
In a court filing on Monday, US prosecutors accused Mr Manafort of lying to federal investigators in violation of his plea agreement. Mr Manafort has denied the allegations.