After Julian Assange has repeatedly confirmed that Russia was not the source of his DNC or John Podesta leaks, including again last night in an interview with Sean Hannity, Paul Ryan would like for you to know that he's not buying it. Sounding a bit like a disaffected Hillary snowflake, Ryan told radio host Hugh Hewitt that he really has no opinion on Assange other than that he's a “sycophant for Russia." Per the Washington Times:
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Wednesday called WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a “sycophant for Russia,” as Mr. Assange reiterated this week that Russia was not the source for internal communications from Democratic officials during the presidential campaign.
Mr. Ryan told radio host Hugh Hewitt that he really has no opinion on Mr. Assange, “other than I think the guy is a sycophant for Russia.”
“He leaks. He steals data and compromises national security,” said Mr. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican.
Of course, Ryan's tone is slightly contradictory to that of the President-elect who, over the past 24 hours, has repeatedly questioned how the DNC could be so "careless" in their failure to protect their own databases and even quoted Assange saying that "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta."
Somebody hacked the DNC but why did they not have "hacking defense" like the RNC has and why have they not responded to the terrible......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017
things they did and said (like giving the questions to the debate to H). A total double standard! Media, as usual, gave them a pass.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017
The "Intelligence" briefing on so-called "Russian hacking" was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017
Julian Assange said "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta" - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017
Asked whether Trump should be quoting Julian Assange via twitter posts, a condescending Ryan said that hopefully Trump will "be better informed" on Russia's efforts to influence the 2016 election after his security briefing scheduled for this Friday.
Mr. Ryan was asked if Mr. Trump should be quoting Mr. Assange. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called the WikiLeaks founder a “high-tech terrorist.”
“The last thing I’m going to do is start commenting on every little tweet or Facebook post. That is just not what I do with the president-elect, or when he’s president,” Mr. Ryan said.
Mr. Ryan pointed out that Mr. Trump is slated to get a briefing on Russia on Friday.
“So hopefully he’ll get up to speed on what has been happening and what Russia has or has not done, and he’ll be better informed on that,” he said.
Something tells us these passive aggressive one-liners from the Speaker could start to sour Ryan's already shaky relationship with the President-elect at some point in the not so distant future.