Wikileaks was almost exclusively an October story. Over 72 percent of people who searched for Wikileaks from June onward did so during October or the first week of November. Interest really got going with Julian Assange’s press conference on Oct. 4 announcing that there would be more information coming from Wikileaks about the election. From there, it was a steady barrage. In contrast, only about 40 percent of searches involving Clinton and Trump in general from June onward came in October or the first week of November. Just over 50 percent of searches for Comey specifically happened during this period.
In fact, searches for Wikileaks from the beginning of October through Election Day were about double the searches for the FBI. When Comey’s letter to Congress was released, search for the FBI spiked above Wikileaks, but then fell quickly. In the final week of the campaign, Wikileaks beat the FBI every day.1
Now, Clinton’s drop in the polls doesn’t line up perfectly with the surge in Wikileaks interest. When Wikileaks had its highest search day in early October, Clinton’s poll numbers were rising. They continued to go up for another two weeks, even as Wikileaks was releasing emails. That is, there isn’t one pivotal “aha!” point which shows that Wikileaks caused Clinton’s numbers to drop. That said, the race was tightening before Comey ever sent his letter to Congress in late October.
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