The United States is preparing criminal charges against WikiLeaks founder and editor Julian Assange, a report published late Thursday says.

American authorities are preparing to seek the arrest of Assange, who has lived in exile in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, officials familiar with the matter told CNN.

The Obama administration reportedly passed on such a move because it determined Assange had not acted unilaterally, and his behavior was at times similar to that of major U.S. outlets, including the New York Times.

But the U.S. view has shifted, as it now believes Assange held a leadership role in the major leaks pulled off by Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning. Then-President Barack Obama commuted Manning's prison sentence in January, and Snowden remains a fugitive, living in Russia.

On Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions called Assange's arrest a "priority."

WikiLeaks "directed Chelsea Manning to intercept specific secret information, and it overwhelmingly focuses on the United States," argued CIA Director Mike Pompeo, speaking last week in Washington. "It's time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is: A nonstate hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia."

Assange denies this, telling The Intercept in an interview published Thursday, "we're not a front for a state whatsoever." He argued Pompeo has ulterior motives for launching this new offensive.

"We had this incredible scoop that we're in the business of publishing right now, which is in fact the reason why Pompeo is launching this attack," Assange said. "He understands we're in this series exposing all sorts of illegal actions by the CIA, so he's trying to get ahead of the publicity curve and create a preemptive defense."

On Friday, WikiLeaks began pre-releasing information on the CIA.

And the potential U.S. arrest of Assange could be awkward for the man who heads the new administration, President Donald Trump. As a candidate, Trump praised Assange's organization.

"I love WikiLeaks!" Trump told a Pennsylvania crowd in October. Leaks against his opponent, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, proved damaging against her efforts during the campaign.

Trump wasn't alone. His ally and confidante, Fox News host Sean Hannity, interviewed Assange extensively during the course of the campaign and directly afterward and publicly backed his eventual release.

Earlier in his career, however, Trump was much more condemnatory of WikiLeaks (as was Hannity), floating the death penalty for members of organizations such as Assange's.

The reversals haven't been lost on Assange, who has begun laying into the president on Twitter.