“The single charge, conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, was filed a year earlier, in March 2018, and stems from what prosecutors said was his agreement to break a password to a classified United States government computer. It carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and is significant in that it is not an espionage charge, a detail that will come as a relief to press freedom advocates.” NYT: Julian Assange Charged by U.S. With Conspiracy to Hack a Government Computer.

+ “He now faces the criminal charges he’s always suspected and feared—although it’s now clear that he’s accused of criminal behavior not as a journalist, or even a spy, but a hacker.” Wired’s Andy Greenberg: Breaking Down The Hacking Case Against Julian Assange.

+ “When Julian Assange, disguised as a motorcycle courier, first walked up the steps of Ecuador’s small embassy behind Harrods in central London and asked for asylum, few people – including, surely, Assange himself – could have imagined it would be almost seven years before he next exited the front door.” The Guardian: The seven-year itch: Assange’s awkward stay in the embassy.

+ Meanwhile, President Trump goes full Sergeant Schultz: “I know nothing about WikiLeaks … It’s not my thing.” (For those scoring at home, his thing is not telling the truth.)