Donald Trump is Now Siding With Julian Assange Over U.S. Intelligence

Only a couple weeks away from inauguration, President-Elect Donald Trump is continuing to strain his relationship with the U.S. intelligence community. He's now saying he believes fugitive Julian Assange when it comes to Russia more than he believes the CIA's assessment that Russia attempted to influence the presidential election results, CNN reports. Assange is the founder of Wikileaks, a site that leaks confidential documents and released the emails of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in late 2016. Assange has said that Wikileaks did not receive Podesta's emails from Russia.

U.S. intelligence workers have agreed that there are clear signs Russia interfered in the election, but Trump has repeatedly argued that these claims cannot be true. This is understandably causing some tension. On Wednesday, he went further to cite some of the things Assange said in a Fox News interview to back up his argument.

Assange is literally a wanted criminal in the U.S., so it's surprising that the president-elect would be publically agreeing with him on social media. While some people think Assange is a hero for releasing information that people need to know, many feel that he should be prosecuted—including a lot of top Republicans.

However on Thursday, Trump tweeted that the media is wrong to say he agrees with Assange, and that he's a "big fan" of U.S. intelligence.

Many believe that the issue stems from Trump's inability to ever admit that he's wrong. Although U.S. Intelligence agencies claim they have proof of Russian involvement, Trump does not want to listen if it'll prove him incorrect.

The Wall Street Journal notes that Trump has been working with his advisors on a possible plan to restructure US Intelligence agencies. This plan could involve restructuring of the CIA, including downsizing their headquarters in Virginia.