Kim Dotcom, the founder of Megaupload, said in an interview this week that the 2016 presidential campaign could become a clash of titans over the issue of transparency. Kim says Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, will create “roadblocks” for Hillary.
In an interview with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang, Kim was asked about a tweet he posted last December in which he said he would be “Hillary’s worst nightmare in 2016.” Kim deferred that it would really be his friend “Julian” who would become Hillary’s worst nightmare adding, “I’m aware of some of the things that are going to be roadblocks for her.” Kim and Assange are friends, though Kim declined to say how often he talks to the Wikileaks founder.
“You’re saying Julian Assange is going to be Hillary’s worst nightmare in 2016?” Chang asked. “I think so,” Kim replied adding, “He has access to information.” Pressed on what that information might be, Kim claimed not to know the details.
As for why Kim and Assange might feel antipathy toward Hillary, Kim explained, “Hillary hates Julian… she’s just an adversary of, I think, internet freedom.”
A conflict between Assange and Clinton may have plenty of personal motivations, but it also seems inevitable in some sense. Hillary is obsessive about maintaining control of information. She created a personal server located in her home to handle all of her emails as Secretary of State, something no other Secretary has ever done. She then deleted all the contents of that server after self-selecting the emails she believed were work-related. More recently, she has refused to speak to the press for more than three weeks, even as she runs for President. By contrast, Assange has made a career out of parceling out what was once secret information.
As to what Assange might have on Hillary, Kim Dotcom claims not to know the details (though this seemed like an obvious dodge) and no one else seems to be talking at the moment. Perhaps, if he really does have damaging information on Hillary, Assange is awaiting the right moment to reveal it.