Why Is Trump Turning On Julian Assange?

Despite publicizing WikiLeaks during his bitter campaign against Hillary Clinton, President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would not object to his Attorney General Jeff Sessions filing new criminal charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Assange is still cloistered in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he continues to publish information concerning various world governments. Though Assange galvanized Trump supporters in the last weeks of the election, his drop of the “Vault 7” files showing the extent of U.S. surveillance operations on private citizens inflamed the Trump administration. A manhunt has been launched for the CIA operative that leaked to Assange.