WikiLeaks shares full text of Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff's explosive new book on Trump, online

Whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks on Sunday (7 January) posted the full text of Michael Wolff's new book 'Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House', an explosive tell-all about President Donald Trump and his administration, on Twitter.

The website tweeted a link to the text of the new book that has captivated the interest of millions by painting an unflattering picture of the president and his closest aides.

"New Trump book 'Fire and Fury' by Michael Wolff. Full PDF:" the tweet read along with a link to a Google Drive containing the full text of the book.

It was later deleted and replaced with another tweet and link to the Google Drive that read: "Full text of the controversial book on Trump, "Fire and Fury", by Michael Wolff, leaks onto the internet."

It is not clear why WikiLeaks tweeted out the link to the full text of the book. However, posting the text of the book online without permission would violate copyright restrictions and likely hurt sales.

Wolff's book, released on Friday, has dominated headlines over the past week is selling fast and has already soared to the top of Amazon's bestsellers list. Meanwhile, Trump and the White House have fiercely denounced the book as "fake" and full of lies.

Wolff said he conducted over 200 interviews with key White House staffers for the book.

Among other interesting anecdotes, Fire and Fury quoted former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon as saying the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between President Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer was "treasonous."

"They're going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV," Bannon was quoted as saying in the book, referring to the ongoing investigation into Russian interference and ties between Trump's campaign and Moscow. Bannon also reportedly called Trump's daughter Ivanka "dumb as a brick" in the book.

President Trump slammed the book last week along with his former aide whom he called "Sloppy Steve" saying Bannon "lost his mind" after losing his job.

Bannon later attempted to make amends in a statement to Axios saying Trump Jr. is a "patriot" and a "good man". He added that he regretted not immediately responding to his comments reported in the book.

Fire and Fury has also raised serious concerns over Trump's mental stability and his ability to carry out his duties as president. Trump responded to those questions on Twitter over the weekend saying he is a "very stable genius" and "like, really smart."

WikiLeaks and Trump

WikiLeaks head Julian Assange has not yet publicly commented on the website's tweet or Wolff's new book. However, former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti said WikiLeaks' post does violate copyright law.

During the 2016 presidential election, WikiLeaks steadily published a trove of damaging internal emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign manager John Podesta. Then-Republican candidate Trump often praised WikiLeaks on the campaign trail saying he "loved" the organisation that offers "incredible information."

US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia directed the hacks on the DNC and Democratic officials before relaying the stolen information over to WikiLeaks to release online.

Assange, however, has denied the allegations saying the material did not come from Moscow or any "state party."

Last year, it was revealed that Trump Jr. corresponded with WikiLeaks during the race to the White House. White House senior adviser and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner also received emails regarding WikiLeaks and a "Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite" in the lead-up to the 2016 election.