Assange, for all his merits, is fundamentally a narcissist who loved the spotlight - he travelled a lot, attended conferences, socialized and so on. Nothing against that, I'm as guilty of self-centering as the next man, but inevitably that sort of behaviour will produce bad interactions with this or that person, which can then be used in personal attacks.
Snowden is more level-headed. He was a regular joe who took his job more seriously than anyone else around him. I know a few guys like him, they are the sort of people you can't "nail" because they just don't do anything that is not well-thought-over in advance, so they have nothing to be ashamed of, ever.
Snowden has always come off to me as a very what you see is what you get kind of person. Largely because he seems so dull (because he's not out drumming up attention, I suppose).
Assange, for all his merits, is fundamentally a narcissist who loved the spotlight - he travelled a lot, attended conferences, socialized and so on. Nothing against that, I'm as guilty of self-centering as the next man, but inevitably that sort of behaviour will produce bad interactions with this or that person, which can then be used in personal attacks.
Snowden is more level-headed. He was a regular joe who took his job more seriously than anyone else around him. I know a few guys like him, they are the sort of people you can't "nail" because they just don't do anything that is not well-thought-over in advance, so they have nothing to be ashamed of, ever.