Michael Moore launches 'Trumpileaks', encourages whistleblowers to expose Trump misdeeds

Effort comes as he works on Fahrenheit 11/9, doc about Trump's surprise election win

Michael Moore is inviting anyone with damaging information on President Donald Trump to spill the beans.

On Tuesday, he announced the creation of Trumpileaks, a Wikileaks-style secure website "that will enable courageous whistleblowers to privately communicate with me and my team."

He wrote on his website, "Patriotic Americans in government, law enforcement or the private sector with knowledge of crimes, breaches of public trust and misconduct committed by Donald J. Trump and his associates are needed to blow the whistle in the name of protecting the United States of America from tyranny."
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I need one of you to help me. It might get dangerous. It may get us in trouble. But we’re running out of time. We must act. It’s our patriotic duty.

--Michael Moore, inviting whistleblowers to leak information on Donald Trump

"Donald Trump thinks he’s above the law. He acts like he’s the above the law. He’s STATED that he’s above the law," Moore's statement continued. "I know this is risky. I knew we may get in trouble. But too much is at stake to play it safe."

Michael Moore. Photo from Thos Robinson/Getty

Although the initiative is modeled on Wikileaks, Moore made no mention of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in his statement. The latter within the past year has become anathema to liberals for his eagerness to disseminate unflattering information about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election campaign, material reportedly leaked to Assange by Russian hackers pushing for a Trump victory.

Moore did cite numerous role models for anyone who might choose to leak damaging material via Trumpileaks. "From Karen Silkwood (nuclear safety), Sherron Watkins (Enron) and Jeffrey Wigand (tobacco) in corporate America to Daniel Ellsberg, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden revealing government lies, the American whistleblowing tradition remains strong, despite constant attempts to intimidate and stifle these truth tellers."
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Facts, reality, brains cannot defeat him. Even when he commits a self-inflicted wound, he gets up the next morning and keeps going and tweeting. That all ends with this movie.

--Michael Moore, announcing his Trump documentary project Fahrenheit 11/9

The Trumpileaks announcement came two weeks after Moore revealed he is working on a documentary about Trump's election to be called Fahrenheit 11/9 -- a play on the title of his 2004 film Fahrenheit  9/11, which shattered documentary box office records. It was early on 11/9/16 that Trump could claim to have won the presidency, despite having finished well behind Clinton in the popular vote.

The Weinstein Co., which released Fahrenheit 9/11, has reached a deal to distribute the Trump film. "Now more than ever, Michael’s appetite for the truth is crucial. We are ecstatic to be a part of this revolution," the Weinstein Co. wrote in a statement. "The filming has been done under a strict cloak of secrecy and is expected to be key in dissolving Trump’s ‘teflon’ shield and, in turn, his presidency."

No release date has been set.

The Weinstein Co. shopped the project during the Cannes Film Festival last month. On May 19 company founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein held an event at the Hotel Martinez where Moore was set to talk about Fahrenheit 11/9 via remote, "live from an undisclosed location." Nonfictionfilm.com was invited to cover the event, but was informed day of that press access was no longer being allowed. 

In a statement Moore commented on Trump and his goal as filmmaker. "No matter what you throw at him, it hasn’t worked. No matter what is revealed, he remains standing. Facts, reality, brains cannot defeat him. Even when he commits a self-inflicted wound, he gets up the next morning and keeps going and tweeting. That all ends with this movie.”