WikiLeaks has recently released a collection of confidential documents that originated from within Hillary Clinton’s camp. They also claim that there will be more documents forthcoming within the next few months. Here are some articles on the matter:
- What Julian Assange’s War on Hillary Clinton Says About WikiLeaks
- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claims organisation will release ‘significant’ Hillary Clinton campaign data
- WikiLeaks founder says the problem with leaking material about Trump is that nothing can compare with ‘what comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth’
One thing that I find problematic about these releases is that they are confined to just one of the two main presidential candidates. It might very well be the case that Donald Trump has done a ton of things that would be similarly damaging to his campaign. Without omniscience, without knowing that there is no such damaging information about Donald Trump, is it right to only release damaging information about the one candidate you happen to have the dirt on?
Sure there is a sense in which it is appropriate to disclose such information for the sake of truth and transparency. But in a situation such as an election, where damaging revelations can effect the outcome, the lack of total knowledge and asymmetry with regards to candidate revelations feels problematic.