--- title: WikiLeaks Isn't Trying to Hack Donald Trump's Tax Returns description: WikiLeaks said it is not trying to hack Donald Trump's tax returns after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said the group was "working on it" canonical: https://time.com/4441994/wikileaks-donald-trump-tax-returns/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-06T16:13:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:49:00.116Z article:section: Politics og:title: No, WikiLeaks Isn't Trying to Hack Donald Trump's Tax Returns og:description: A statement came after Julian Assange said the group was "working on it" og:url: https://time.com/4441994/wikileaks-donald-trump-tax-returns/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88873f4dba94f18b/6988a174fb4eac1a6f88ea64/julian-assange-donald-trump-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: UN Panel Rules That Wikileaks Founder Is Arbitrarily Detained og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: No, WikiLeaks Isn't Trying to Hack Donald Trump's Tax Returns twitter:description: A statement came after Julian Assange said the group was "working on it" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88873f4dba94f18b/6988a174fb4eac1a6f88ea64/julian-assange-donald-trump-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # No, WikiLeaks Isn't Trying to Hack Donald Trump's Tax Returns  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 6, 2016 4:13 PM UTC  Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy where he continues to seek asylum following an extradition request from Sweden in 2012, on Feb. 5, 2016 in London, England. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy where he continues to seek asylum following an extradition request from Sweden in 2012, on Feb. 5, 2016 in London, England.Carl Court/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 6, 2016 4:13 PM UTC WikiLeaks [said Saturday](https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/761937233356128256) that it is not trying to hack Donald Trump’s tax returns, following an [interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-EJAIXdGp8) in which [WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange](http://time.com/4425876/julian-assange-dnc-email-democratic-convention/) said the group was “working on it.” “WikiLeaks isn’t ‘working on’ hacking Trump’s tax-returns. Claim is a joke from a comedy show. We are ‘working on’ encouraging whistleblowers,” the organization [said on Twitter](https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/761937233356128256). Asked in a Friday interview on _Real Time with Bill Maher_ why WikiLeaks hasn’t hacked into Trump’s tax returns, Assange said, “We’re working on it.” The organization’s statement on Saturday aimed to walk back that comment. **MORE** [Why It Matters Who Hacked the Democratic National Committee](http://time.com/4372161/democratic-national-committee-hackers/) In Friday’s interview, Maher accused Assange of “working with a bad actor, Russia, to put your thumb on the scale” and influence the presidential election. Ahead of the Democratic National Convention, WikiLeaks released emails obtained through a [Democratic National Committee hack](http://time.com/4422379/russian-hack-democratic-convention-putin/) thought by U.S. officials to have been carried out by Russia. The email release led to the resignation of party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Trump has [repeatedly said](http://time.com/4329179/donald-trump-tax-returns-release-tax-rate/) he will not [release his tax returns](http://time.com/4434785/warren-buffett-donald-trump-tax-returns/), bucking a standard practice for presidential candidates that goes back decades and drawing [strong criticism](http://time.com/4236690/donald-trump-mitt-romney-tax-fight/) from members of both parties. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4441994/wikileaks-donald-trump-tax-returns/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4441994/wikileaks-donald-trump-tax-returns/"},"headline":"No, WikiLeaks Isn't Trying to Hack Donald Trump's Tax Returns","datePublished":"2016-08-06T16:13:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:49:00.116Z","description":"A statement came after Julian Assange said the group was \"working on it\"","url":"https://time.com/4441994/wikileaks-donald-trump-tax-returns/","keywords":["2016 Election","russia","2016 Election topic","Cyber Attacks"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88873f4dba94f18b/6988a174fb4eac1a6f88ea64/julian-assange-donald-trump-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88873f4dba94f18b/6988a174fb4eac1a6f88ea64/julian-assange-donald-trump-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"UN Panel Rules That Wikileaks Founder Is Arbitrarily Detained","caption":"UN Panel Rules That Wikileaks Founder Is Arbitrarily Detained","creditText":"Carl Court/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4441994/wikileaks-donald-trump-tax-returns/","name":"No, WikiLeaks Isn't Trying to Hack Donald Trump's Tax Returns"}}]}] ```