OTOH, many of his old Republican enemies who were calling for WikiLeaks to be treated like al-Qaeda love him, for now. And they have a lot more power and influence than the anti-establishment outsiders that were his old supporters, so he's definitely improved his own situation.

Maybe I've missed it, but most of the coverage and statements from Republicans on this seem to include disclaimers about how irresponsible Assange has been (hard not to when he dumps SSNs), while still happily using whatever red meat they can find.

If Assange had 'an agenda' (how nebulous) then why would he have been successful at interviewing the world's most cited academic, Noam Chomsky, and other high-level thought and political leaders? What exactly is the 'agenda' he is supposed to have? You are spreading fallacious FUD.

Are you really implying that Chomsky doesn't have an agenda? He's more famous for his political nonsense, e.g. being a far-lefty who supports people like Castro and Chavez, than his actually (very good) linguistics research.

Yes, I am.

Chomsky publishes his research and backs his arguments with innumerable facts, the man is practically a walking encyclopedia of US foreign policy, human rights violations and hypocrisy over the last 100 years.

The difference between an academic and someone with an 'agenda' is that one is interested in the truth and publishes cited analyses, the other is only motivated to impress a particular opinion.

Chomsky is voted by the global community of academics as a valued member of that community. Against that shadow, your assertions are valueless.

What's his agenda ?

In addition to forcing transparency on governments, corporations, and non-profits around the world, I think he would like to secure his own future freedom.

It seems highly likely that a Trump administration would give him immunity or a pardon.