WikiLeaks hints at #OctoberSurprise ahead of US presidential election

World Today

Julian AssangeJulian Assange, of WikiLeaks, speaks via video link during a press conference. October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

A month ahead of the U.S. presidential election, WikiLeaks promised to publish roughly one million documents about the election, which has since been characterized online as the “October surprise.”

The promise by the now ten-year old online document leak site came from the head of the organization, Julian Assange.

“Regarding upcoming publications… we hope to be publishing every week for the next 10 weeks,” Assange said during a press conference.

Assange spoke to the conference through a video link from the Embassy of Ecuador in London, where he has sought refuge since 2012.

The term #OctoberSurprise quickly took off online, with some speculation that the leaks were aimed at Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

While Assange said that the document release would not be targeting the Clinton campaign, WikiLeaks has been vocal about tension between them and the Democrat nominee.

Ultimately, no documents were immediately released following the press conference.

Story compiled with information from Reuters.