Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, in a statement via his spokesman, called a report in the Guardian that he met with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange several times “totally false and deliberately libelous.”
“I have never met Julian Assange or anyone connected to him,” the statement said. “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. 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 report, which was based on unnamed sources, claimed that Manafort had met Assange in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, in 2013, 2015 and 2016. WikiLeaks, as well as Assange’s attorney, have also denied the report.
