WikiLeaks denies Julian Assange’s Donald Trump tax return hack claim

WIKILEAKS has been forced to backtrack after Julian Assange claimed they were looking into hacking into Donald Trump’s tax returns.

WIKILEAKS has been forced to backtrack after Julian Assange claimed they were looking into hacking into Donald Trump’s tax returns.

Assange made his claims at the end of a heated interview with “Real Time” host Bill Maher.

The WikiLeaks founder was discussing the recent disclosure of emails and voicemails from the Democratic National Committee, which have rocked Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Assange has promised they “have more on Hillary”, and told Maher he was “working” on hacking into Donald Trump’s private tax returns.

Trump’s tax returns have been the subject of debate during the presidential campaign. Even Warren Buffet has urged him to disclose them publicly, like other presidential candidates have in the past.

But Trump has said he would not disclose his tax returns because he is under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

When Maher asked him: “Why don’t you hack into Donald Trump’s tax return?”, Assange replied: “Well, we’re working on it.”

But the WikiLeaks official Twitter account has since claimed Assange’s comment was a joke.

“WikiLeaks isn’t ‘working on’ hacking Trump’s tax-returns. Claim is a joke from a comedy show. We are ‘working on’ encouraging whistleblowers.”

WikiLeaks isn't 'working on' hacking Trump's tax-returns. Claim is a joke from a comedy show. We are 'working on' encouraging whistleblowers

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 6, 2016

Maher also asked Assange why nothing had been hacked from the Trump campaign yet.

“Why haven’t we seen anything hacked from the Trump campaign?” Maher asked.

“I mean, obviously we know these (files) came from Russia. It looks like you are working with a bad actor, Russia, to put your thumb on the scale, and basically, f*** with the one person who stands in the way of us being ruled by Donald Trump.”

Assange, who was speaking from the Ecuadorean embassy in London replied: “Everyone knows the source of what we published. The source is the Democratic Party.”

The chief executive of the Democratic National Committee and two other top officials were forced to resign in the wake of the email hack that embarrassed the party on the eve of its presidential nominating convention.

CEO Amy Dacey, chief finance officer Brad Marshall and communications director Luis Miranda left their jobs on Tuesday.

The resignations are the latest fallout from the hacked emails, which exposed an apparent lack of neutrality in the primary race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, with some party officials disparaging Sanders.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally in New Hampshire. Picture: Getty

Marshall wrote the most explosive email, questioning Sanders’ Jewish faith and suggesting he could be portrayed as an atheist. He has apologised for the missive.

Earlier, party chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned her position and, after being booed at a pre-convention appearance last week in Philadelphia, chose not to speak from the convention stage.

Longtime Democratic operative Donna Brazile is serving as the party’s interim chair. Brazile said Tuesday that she has created a “transition team” to help prepare the party for its post-election mission. She said Tom McMahon, a former DNC executive director under then-Chair Howard Dean, will lead that group.

Clinton operatives who moved over to party headquarters after she had effectively secured the nomination in June will continue in their roles; that group includes DNC chief of staff Brandon Davis. Additionally, veteran Democratic strategist Doug Thornell will serve as an interim senior adviser to the party.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is campaigning despite being hit by email hacks. Picture: AP

Dacey already has a new job. She has been hired by Squared Communications, a Democratic consulting firm based in Washington. “As one of the top campaign strategists in our party, and with our experiences together on presidential, Senate and congressional campaigns, Amy will help our firm’s clients navigate this and future election cycles,” Michael Meehan, founder and CEO Squared Communications, said in a statement.

Before joining the DNC, Dacey was executive director of EMILY’s List, which works to elect female Democrats.

The cache of more than 19,000 messages was made public by the group WikiLeaks just before the convention.

Democratic Party officials learned in late April that their systems had been attacked after they discovered malicious software on their computers. A cybersecurity firm they employed found traces of at least two sophisticated hacking groups on the Democrats’ network — both of which have ties to the Russian government.