Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort denied a British newspaper’s report that he met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange several times, including once in the month when he began working for the president’s campaign.
“This story is totally false and deliberately libelous. I have never met Julian Assange or anyone connected to him. I have never been contacted by anyone connected to Wikileaks, either directly or indirectly. I have never reached out to Assange or Wikileaks on any matter,” Manafort said in a statement released by his legal team. “We are considering all legal options against the Guardian who proceeded with this story even after being notified by my representatives that it was false.”
The Guardian reported Tuesday that Manafort met secretly with Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2013, 2015 and March 2016.
Manafort joined the Trump campaign in March 2016 and stayed until August, when he resigned.
WikiLeaks released thousands of emails that Russian hackers stole from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign in the summer of 2016.