In criminal cases where a key witness, essential to the prosecution, admits that they lied the case is poisoned and usually dismissed.
That will not happen with Assange.
He embarrassed a lot of very powerful people including one named Clinton.
I don’t view him as a hero nor do I view him as a villain. Julian was a real champion of many on the left when his targets were in Republican hands. They did not understand Julian because he targeted them when they were in power and that was his real mistake. To be “of the left” you can only damage one side.
What he did legally was no different (publish secrets) than the NYT or Compost did when the “target” was Trump (classified information leaked). That was okay with those who are in charge of such things when it served their interests (get Trump). Assange made the wrong enemies even if what he did was legally equivalent. For better or worse, it is hard now to find a better example of our real life double standard.