Don't mil guys have DoD cards or some such? Why would hacking a password help anything? You still need to have a card for you account, no?

At least back then SIPRNet had a password login for normal users. I've been out for nearly a decade, so I don't know if the situation has changed.

Well, there are lots of jurisdictions in the world where it’s not a crime to conspire.

Presumably there are quite a few reasonable people who disagree on the necessity of prosecuting “crimes” like this. Why’s your way the right way?

What countries allow their journalists to attempt to hack the country's military without consequence?

Well this one apparently allows it's soldiers given the pardon of the co-conspirator. And, yes I think it should be severely punished in either case, but seeing both go free is a lot less scary than seeing unequal justice handed down because one was a thorn in the governments side.

It wasn't a pardon, it was a commuting of sentence. Huge difference.

The law doesn't necessarily agree, but that doesn't mean its analogous reasoning is just, or even technically correct.

Here's a better lens: Assange attempted to solve a math problem.

Solving a hash is not the same as breaking a physical lock, or attempting entry.