That's what you call "a full throated defense?" It sounds like he's making a point to me. Where is the hew and cry to prosecute Cong. Jim McDermott? Or John Kerry? Or Bill Clinton? Or, as Ron Paul asked, the NYTs?
It's either a full-throated defense, or he's a bumbling moron. It is alleged that Assange was in contact with Manning well-before any data breach occurred, making Assange part of the conspiracy.
No one alleges that the New York Times engineered the release of the classified materials they came to be in possession of - either during the Pentagon Papers fiasco, or the the Swiss banking/intelligence scandal more recently. Paul's either too stupid to understand that distinction, or he doesn't care. Take your pick.