On Prosecuting Julian Assange

Then there is the question of the charges against him. If he stole the information, then he should indeed be tried on espionage. But if he merely received it, Mr. Holder will have a hell of a time distinguishing his actions--however damaging or odious you may believe them to be--from all our legitimate purveyors of news and information. How will he differentiate Assange's reporting of the leaks from that of the New York Times?

If his crime is a hybrid and he encouraged the theft of government information or paid for it, there may be a case. But that is different from what now the case appears to be. I think that absent his personal involvement in stealing the information that our media will line up solidly behind his right to blow the whistle on our diplomatic hypocrisies.

The most interesting part of this case is the suspicion that all of these leaked cables and military action reports could not have come from one annoyed (even treasonous) Private First Class. Assange may well have other sources and resources. Personally, I smell a state actor behind this, and when we look at what state benefits the most from our embarrassment, Russia pops to the surface. Whether Assange is a knowing agent or unconscious dupe, the final story may well involve Russia operating through Estonian hackers.