Ecuador president blames WikiLeaks for leak of private data

FILE- In this Friday May 19, 2017 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange greets supporters outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno said on Tuesday, March 2, 2019, that he wants to reach an agreement for Assange to leave the Embassy in London as soon as possible, as long as his life is not in danger. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

QUITO, Ecuador – Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno is blaming WikiLeaks for recent allegations of corruption in local outlets and the publication of family photos to social media.

In a speech to the Ecuadorian Broadcasting Association on Tuesday, Moreno accused WikiLeaks of intercepting phone calls and private conversations as well as "photos of my bedroom, what I eat, and how my wife and daughters and friends dance."

Moreno provided no evidence, but the speech reflected ongoing tension between WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his hosts at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

WikiLeaks in a statement called Moreno's charges "completely bogus," saying it reported on the accusations of corruption against the president only after Ecuador's legislature investigated the issue.

"If President Moreno wants to illegally terminate a refugee publisher's asylum to cover up an offshore corruption scandal, history will not be kind," WikiLeaks said in a statement.

Assange's defense team suggested on Twitter that Moreno was trying to use the scandal to pressure the WikiLeaks founder.