Trump campaign data firm sought Assange’s help on Clinton emails: report

The head of a data analytics firm that worked for President Trump’s campaign reached out to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about locating Hillary Clinton’s missing emails, The Daily Beast reported Wednesday. 

Alexander Nix, who leads Cambridge Analytica, reportedly told a third party that he reached out to Assange to see if Nix’s firm could help Assange release Clinton’s 33,000 missing emails. Assange reportedly told Nix he preferred to do the work on his own.

After the report was published, Assange confirmed to The Daily Beast that Cambridge Analytica approached WikiLeaks, but said the site rejected the firm.

The House Intelligence Committee earlier this month requested information from Cambridge Analytica about its work from Trump’s campaign as part of its investigation into Russian interference in last year’s election.

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Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon once served as a board member for Cambridge Analytica.

Clinton’s emails, which were deleted from the personal email server she used while serving as secretary of State, were a major focus of the Trump campaign. During one rally, Trump said he hoped Russia could help find the emails. 

In another instance, Trump declared, “I love WikiLeaks,” after the site began publishing hacked emails from Clinton’s campaign. 

In July, Matt Tait, CEO and founder of a U.K.-based security consultant firm, said a GOP operative had contacted his company in an effort to obtain Clinton’s missing emails.

–This report was updated at 11:21 a.m.