The Guardian revealed that a Cambridge Analytica director apparently visited Julian Assange in February last year and told friends that the reason for the meeting was to discuss what happened during the US election.
The report adds that Brittany Kaiser, a director at the firm until earlier this year, 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.
In its report, the British paper says that these revelations open up fresh questions about the relationship between Cambridge Analytica and WikiLeaks. The two are already subjects of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation about interference in US elections.
There was no known connection until October last year, when it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica had “reached out” to Assange in July 2016 and offered to help him index and distribute the 33,000 emails that had been stolen from Hillary Clinton.
Assange issued a statement saying that he had turned down the Cambridge Analytica offer. Alexander Nix, the company’s chief executive, told Westminster MPs the same in February, during an appearance at the Commons digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS) select committee. Nix said he found a contact for WikiLeaks’ speaking agency on the internet and sent Assange an email.
