WikiLeaks' Julian Assange got 'new computing & network hardware,' maybe hacked election data, in weird embassy meetings

CNN reports that the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, personally received deliveries, potentially including hacked materials related to the 2016 U.S. elections, during a series of odd meetings at Ecuador's Embassy in London.

Marshall Cohen, Kay Guerrero and Arturo Torres, for CNN say their report is based on documents obtained exclusively by CNN.

The documents build on the possibility, raised by special counsel Robert Mueller in his report on Russian meddling, that couriers brought hacked files to Assange at the embassy.

Although Assange was physically confined to the Ecuadorian embassy while he attempted to obtain secure passage to Ecuador, Assange still managed to have meetings with Russians, world-class hackers, and other shady characters at critical moments, frequently for hours at a time, according to the embassy visitor logs.

He also acquired powerful new computing and network hardware to facilitate data transfers just weeks before WikiLeaks received hacked materials from Russian operatives, reports CNN.

Excerpt from the CNN report:

These stunning details come from hundreds of surveillance reports compiled for the Ecuadorian government by UC Global, a private Spanish security company, and obtained by CNN. They chronicle Assange's movements and provide an unprecedented window into his life at the embassy. They also add a new dimension to the Mueller report, which cataloged how WikiLeaks helped the Russians undermine the US election.

An Ecuadorian intelligence official told CNN that the surveillance reports are authentic. The security logs noted that Assange personally managed some of the releases "directly from the embassy" where he lived for nearly seven years.