Julian Assange: Reporters are letting Hillary Clinton 'put nooses around everyone's necks'

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Wednesday shot back at claims that he was meddling in the US election in favor of Donald Trump.

Speaking with The New York Times on Facebook Live, Assange scoffed at the assertion that Trump and Jill Stein, the Republican and Green parties' presidential nominees, were being manipulated as unwitting Russian agents, an allegation put forward by top officials like former CIA deputy director Michael Morell.

Assange accused Clinton of "whipping up a neo-McCarthyist hysteria about Russia."

"What kind of press environment is this going to lead to post-election?" Assange asked.

He continued: "The American liberal press, in falling over themselves to defend Hillary Clinton, are erecting a demon that is going to put nooses around everyone's necks as soon as she wins the election, which is almost certainly what she's going to do."

In recent months, WikiLeaks has played a controversial and outsize role in the US presidential election.

Days before the Democratic National Convention in July, WikiLeaks released hacked internal Democratic National Committee emails showing top Democratic staffers criticizing and considering political action against Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton's main opponent in the primaries. The leaks led to a wave of convention protests and eventual resignations from top party officials.

Earlier this month, Assange promised another round of Clinton-related document released before the election, while the organization offered money for leaked information on both Clinton and Trump.

Some critics have accused Assange and WikiLeaks of maintaining an anti-Clinton bias that in essence supports Trump, though Assange has likened the election to a choice between "cholera and gonorrhea." Informal Trump adviser Roger Stone also claims to have been in indirect contact with Assange, whom he called a "hero" in August.

In Wednesday's interview, Assange denied that he was defending Trump by claiming that the Republican presidential nominee had no significant financial ties to Russia.

WikiLeaks has also been criticized for offering a cash reward for information on the death of Seth Rich, a Democratic staffer, insinuating a potential conspiracy despite no evidence to support political foul play in his death.