Spicer: 'Massive difference' between CIA Wikileaks leak, Podesta email leak

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wh_3817_spicer

The White House

The White House(WASHINGTON) — White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that even though Donald Trump praised Wikileaks during the presidential campaign — when it released troves of damaging emails from a key Hillary Clinton adviser — he does not necessarily hold the same warm feelings for the anti-secrecy organization in light of the leaks of alleged CIA documents.

Wikileaks released documents early Tuesday that the group claimed were thousands of secret CIA files detailing the agency’s arsenal of hacker tools and efforts to covertly gain access to smartphones and smart TVs.

Spicer said he was not ready to comment on the alleged leak Tuesday. While he would not confirm the veracity of any of the information in the documents, Spicer said that President Trump would view it as dangerous if they are real based on the “concern he has for leaks.”

Amidst swirling questions about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and alleged Trump associate contacts with suspected Russian officials during the campaign, Trump has decried leaks to the press and pushed for investigations into them.

That appears to strike a different tone from a campaign rally when Trump said “I love Wikileaks!”

“There is a big difference between disclosing John Podesta’s Gmail accounts… and the leaking of classified information. There is a massive difference between those two things,” Spicer said Wednesday.

Spicer added that the president’s concerns likely stem from the threats that the information could pose to national security.

In the wake of the document release, the CIA released a statement declining to say whether the files were real or not.

“We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents,” said CIA spokesperson Jonathan Liu.

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