With Tunesmith, I too find the charges against Julian Assange a bit too convenient. He royally pissed off the US intelligence services. Had the accusations against him as a traitor been as dire as the US said at the time, the USA would have collapsed by now--or something like that. The intelligence services of both Sweden and the USA have always had a fairly close relationship--but I mis-speak. Sweden, according to the CIA has no intelligence service(s):

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-s/sweden.html

Oh, well, back to the drawing board. Again.