The election of hacks and leaks
If you think the 2016 US presidential election is all about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, then you’ve missed out some key players: welcome to the election of hacks and leaks.
Forget the usual campaign messages and staged media appearances: in the most cut-throat presidential race in recent history, the events that have led the action have been bombshells out of the control of both candidates.
Some consider the looming presence of Russia as the most sinister provocateur in this year’s race.
Amidst rumours and declarations of mutual admiration between Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin, hacked emails belonging to a key Clinton campaign player Debbie Wasserman Schultz were strategically released on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. The culprits? Russian hackers.
It looked like Russian hackers were trying to tip the balance in favour of Trump and they were joined by Julian Assange. The Wikileaks founder is vehemently anti-Clinton and waged a personal vendetta against Clinton’s campaign.
But Trump has had his share of problems with leaks. Already convinced that the mainstream media were against him, The Washington Post unearthed some old video footage of Trump making lewd sexist remarks about women.
The fallout was a surge for Clinton giving her a 12-point lead in the polls one month before polling day.
And then there’s the issue of his tax returns. Or lack thereof. Unlike every other presidential nominee ever, Trump has refused to release his tax returns thereby potentially hiding how much tax he has paid, and how rich (or not) he actually is.
The New York Times did manage to find some damning tax records for 1995 which show that Trump might have been able to write-off federal taxes for twenty years.
Under the weight of these leaks, two weeks before the polls closed, Hillary Clinton had a seemingly insurmountable lead. And then the FBI director James Comey dropped a bombshell: new emails had been discovered which brought up the damning issue of Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email server.
It turned out that the emails had been discovered on the laptop of the disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s right-hand woman. How do we know this? Leaks from the FBI, members of which are rumoured to be strongly anti-Clinton.
We’re now in the closing hours of the race but given everything that’s happened this season, there’s still time for another leak or bombshell to hit. Both camps will be holding their breath until well after the polls close.
