DDoS attack on WikiLeaks stymies new #PodestaEmails release

WikiLeaks has indicated that a series of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against its website means many new emails from Clinton’s campaign chair have been unreadable online.

The controversial media outlet released the 35th tranche of hacked documents from John Podesta’s Gmail account on Tuesday. It brings the total number in the Podesta series to 58,375.

However, a number of the leaked emails have been displaying an “Internal Server Error”.

WikiLeaks later responded to queries about the ‘error’ messages and blamed “unrelenting” DDoS attacks over the course of the past 24 hours.

The site had said Monday that it was suffering a major targeted DoS attack after releasing a second batch of emails from key members of the Democratic National Committee.

READ MORE: WikiLeaks says email publication servers under targeted DoS attack since #DNCLeak2

Tuesday’s Podesta email leaks come as US citizens go to the polls to elect their 45th president – and on the back of Julian Assange’s assertion that WikiLeaks has been under “enormous pressure” to stop publishing Clinton campaign material.

“That pressure has come from the campaign’s allies, including the Obama administration, and from liberals who are anxious about who will be elected US President,” Assange said in an online statement.

Assange added that it was important to remind people why WikiLeaks has released the Podesta emails.

“The right to receive and impart true information is the guiding principle of WikiLeaks – an organization that has a staff and organizational mission far beyond myself. Our organization defends the public’s right to be informed.

“This is why, irrespective of the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential election, the real victor is the US public which is better informed as a result of our work,” he said.