If Assange worked for a newspaper—no matter what the size—there would be no question what he did was covered by the 1st amendment.
The law hasn’t caught up with technology. Websites ARE today’s free press. The fact that their contents aren’t printed on paper doesn’t make them any less an arm of the free press.
Charging Assange is no different than charging the NYT for printing the Pentagon Papers.
Assange should have never been charged to begin with.
Thanks for summing this up so well - agree completely.