Alleged leaker Bradley Manning: hero to Berkeley?

[tbombz]

well if he made an oath promising he wasnt going to do something, then he should be prosecuted to a reasonable extent for his breach of contract.

that being said - transparency should always be encouraged..

[Dos Equis]

Bradley Manning Ruling: Judge Reduces Sentence For Army Private In WikiLeaks Case
By DAVID DISHNEAU 01/08/13   

FORT MEADE, Md. — An Army private suspected of sending reams of classified documents to the secret-sharing WikiLeaks website was illegally punished at a Marine Corps brig and should get 112 days cut from any prison sentence he receives if convicted, a military judge ruled Tuesday.

Army Col. Denise Lind ruled during a pretrial hearing that authorities went too far in their strict confinement of Pfc. Bradley Manning for nine months in a Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va., in 2010 and 2011. Manning was confined to a windowless cell 23 hours a day, sometimes with no clothing. Brig officials said it was to keep him from hurting himself or others.

Lind said Manning's confinement was "more rigorous than necessary." She added that the conditions "became excessive in relation to legitimate government interests."

Manning faces 22 charges, including aiding the enemy, which carries a maximum sentence of life behind bars. His trial begins March 6.

The 25-year-old intelligence analyst had sought to have the charges thrown out, arguing the conditions were egregious. Military prosecutors had recommended a seven-day sentence reduction, conceding Manning was improperly kept for that length of time on highly restrictive suicide watch, contrary to a psychiatrist's recommendation.

Lind rejected a defense contention that brig commanders were influenced by higher-ranking Marine Corps officials at Quantico or the Pentagon.

Manning showed no reaction as Lind read her decision. He fidgeted when the judge took the bench to announce her ruling, sometimes tapping his chin or mouth with a pen and frequently glancing at his attorney's notepad, but those movements tapered off during the hour and 45 minutes it took the judge to read the lengthy opinion.

Mike McKee, one of about a dozen Manning supporters in the courtroom, said he was disappointed. He called the ruling "very conservative," although he said he didn't expect the charges to be thrown out.

"I don't find it a victory," McKee said. "Credit like that becomes much less valuable if the sentence turns out to be 80 years."


Jeff Paterson of the Bradley Manning Support Network, which is funding Manning's defense, said the sentencing credit "doesn't come close to compensating Bradley" for his harsh treatment.

"The ruling is not strong enough to give the military pause before mistreating the next American soldier awaiting trial," Paterson wrote in an email.

Lind ruled on the first day of a scheduled four-day hearing at Fort Meade, near Baltimore.

The hearing is partly to determine whether Manning's motivation matters. Prosecutors want the judge to bar the defense from producing evidence at trial regarding his motive for allegedly leaking hundreds of thousands of secret war logs and diplomatic cables. They say motive is irrelevant to whether he leaked intelligence, knowing it would be seen by al-Qaida

Manning allegedly told an online confidant-turned-informant that he leaked the material because "I want people to see the truth" and "information should be free."

Defense attorney David Coombs said Tuesday that barring such evidence would cripple the defense's ability to argue that Manning leaked only information that he believed couldn't hurt the United States or help a foreign nation.

Manning has offered to take responsibility for the leaks in a pending plea offer but he still could face trial on charges such as aiding the enemy.

The Crescent, Okla., native is accused of leaking classified Iraq and Afghanistan war logs and more than 250,000 diplomatic cables while working as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad in 2009 and 2010. He is also charged with leaking 2007 video of a U.S. helicopter crew gunning down 11 men, including a Reuters news photographer and his driver. The Pentagon concluded the troops acted appropriately, having mistaken the camera equipment for weapons.

Manning supporters consider him a whistleblower whose actions exposed war crimes and helped trigger the pro-democracy Arab Spring uprisings in late 2010.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/08/bradley-manning-ruling_n_2432946.html

[Dos Equis]

 

Bradley Manning: The Hero of a New WikiLeaks Documentary 'We Steal Secrets'
By Tim Graham | May 31, 2013

Julian Assange is no hero. Hollywood loves the idea of being subversive of the “military-industrial complex,” so Assange is a natural protagonist for them. In the new documentary "We Steal Secrets," leftist filmmaker Alex Gibney decided that Assange was more morally complex – beginning the minute he demanded payment to be interviewed for Gibney’s movie. Gibney and other leftists arrived at the reality that Assange is an egotist, not an idealist.

Since Gibney couldn’t root for Assange in his movie, he made Bradley Manning the hero, and the scapegoat, insisting “The US government is trying to lay all the blame for these leaks on one poor kid.” Other liberal journalists have easily found at least as much egotism and moral complexity in Manning as they have in Assange, but not Gibney.

Manning is a scapegoat. And it turns out, as you know from Catching Hell, I'm very interested in this process that societies go through to try and find one person to blame for society's ills. And that seems to be the case with Bradley Manning. The US government is trying to lay all the blame for these leaks on one poor kid. Indeed, they've charged him with a capital offense.

So I recognize the kind of brutality of the scapegoat process. I first became interested in this in [his documentary] Taxi to the Dark Side. Cheney and Bush were referring to the guards at Abu Ghraib as a "few bad apples" as if the whole barrel wasn't rotten—but in fact there was a system of torture.

So in that context, that's what started me in being interested in the very idea of scapegoating. And of course this goes back to the very beginning, when villages used to literally drive goats out of the village and kill them to take all the sins of the village upon them. I'm very interested in what's happened to Bradley Manning as a result. He's caused embarrassment to the US government and he broke an oath for which he has pled guilty and already been punished. But the idea of charging him with capital punishment for this seems outrageous and very in line with the scapegoating idea.

Assange shocked several fans by his absolute lack of reluctance to release anything and everything, as in this interview on the NPR-distributed show "On The Media":

BOB GARFIELD, WNYC: I asked Julian if hypothetically he would publish information sent to his website that could lead to the deaths of innocents, such as, for instance, how to release anthrax into a town’s water supply.

JULIAN ASSANGE: Yes, even if there is a possibility that it would lead to loss of life. It’s hard to imagine a circumstance where we would get a document and us not publishing it would be helpful. If they were ill motivated, then they could send that in private to terrorist groups, to neo-Nazi organizations, and those organizations could then develop their plans out of the sunlight. And that’s the greatest harm.

That public-radio exchange just shows how politically extreme Assange is, that he couldn’t balance public safety against his ideal of freedom of information. It’s a little funny that they say sunlight is the best disinfectant – in this case, Assange is all in favor of sunlight no matter how infectious and deadly it becomes.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2013/05/31/bradley-manning-hero-new-wikileaks-documentary-we-steal-secrets

[Dos Equis]

Osama Bin Laden Raid Evidence Entered In Bradley Manning Trial
Posted: 07/01/2013 12:24 pm EDT  |  Updated: 07/01/2013 12:34 pm EDT
 .
FORT MEADE, Md. -- Bradley Manning agreed Monday to allow a government statement to be used as evidence in his trial, indicating that documents he sent to WikiLeaks were in Osama bin Laden's possession when he was killed. Allowing the statement as evidence avoids potentially dramatic courtroom testimony from a member of the 2011 raid on the al Qaeda leader's compound.

Though weeks in the making, Manning's decision took only a few minutes in the courtroom. It allows a crucial piece of evidence to the government's case that Manning aided the enemy, a charge that carries a possible life sentence.

"Do you understand what this stipulation of fact is to be used for?" Col. Denise Lind, the judge overseeing the case, asked Manning before allowing it to be entered as evidence.

"Yes ma'am," Manning replied.

What that stipulation of fact -- an agreement between the prosecution and defense -- will be used for is trying to show that Manning's disclosures directly helped the al Qaeda leader.

The crucial details, according to the government: the raid recovered "a letter from UBL to a member of al-Qaeda requesting the member gather Department of Defense material posted to WikiLeaks ... a letter from the same member of al-Qaeda to UBL, attached to which was the Afghanistan War Log as posted by WikiLeaks … (and) the Department of State information released by Wikileaks."
Also entered as evidence on Monday were facts about a June 3, 2011 recruitment video released by U.S.-born al Qaeda propagandist Adam Gadahn, calling on militants to read WikiLeaks' collection of State Department cables. Additional facts were entered about a winter 2010 edition of the al Qaeda magazine Inspire, which called on followers to archive WikiLeaks disclosures.

Manning has plead guilty to 10 of the 22 charges against him, but he is fighting in court the allegation that he aided the enemy. Critics have said that the highly controversial charge could also be used to criminalize journalists' sources.

Prosecutors don't allege Manning intended to give the documents to al Qaeda -- only that he should have known that his disclosures could have wound up in their hands. Lind will still need to weigh the significance of the stipulations entered into the record on Monday, but some military experts have been skeptical that she will find Manning guilty of aiding the enemy -- a charge last successfully prosecuted during the Civil War.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/01/osama-bin-laden-bradley-manning_n_3529128.html

[Dos Equis]

Good that he admitted what he did was wrong and that he hurt his country.  Now let him spend a very long time in a cell. 

Bradley Manning apologizes, tells court he must pay price
By Paul Courson, CNN
updated 8:04 PM EDT, Wed August 14, 2013

Fort Meade, Maryland (CNN) -- Convicted leaker Army Pfc. Bradley Manning acknowledged Wednesday that by leaking tens of thousands of pages of classified documents he "hurt people and hurt the United States."

"I understood what I was doing was wrong but I didn't appreciate the broader effects of my actions," he said during his sentencing hearing at Maryland's Fort Meade. "I only wanted to help people, not hurt people."

The former Army intelligence analyst was convicted in July of stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of documents and videos to WikiLeaks in what has been described as the largest leak of classified material in U.S. history. He was found guilty of 20 of the 22 charges against him, including violations of the U.S. Espionage Act.

How many years Manning spends behind bars is up to Col. Denise Lind, the judge in the case. She already found him not guilty of the most serious charge -- aiding the enemy -- and she later granted a defense motion that decreased the maximum penalty Manning faced from 136 years in prison to 90 years.

Manning has claimed he leaked the material to expose wrongdoing and provoke discussion about U.S. military and diplomatic affairs.

But in court on Wednesday, he told the judge that he now recognized he should have handled it a different way. "I should have worked more aggressively within the system," he said.

Manning also said at the time he decided to leak the documents, he was "dealing with a lot of issues" -- a reference to his gender identity crisis that the defense has made a focal point in the case.

But he told the judge it was not an excuse for what he did. While Manning said he recognized that he has to pay a price for what for he did, he told the judge that he hoped someday to get out of prison and lead a productive life.

His statement followed testimony from a military psychologist, who said Manning appeared to be isolated and under intense pressure as a male soldier struggling with gender identity issues.

"There would never be a time that he could be openly female," Capt. Michael Worsey testified. "And so seeking treatment for that, treatment was how to adjust to that, not treat the disorder, but how to be comfortable with that in the Army."

Father: My son was 'grandstanding'

With much of the testimony in Manning's sentencing hearing focusing on his gender identify issues, the Army on Wednesday released a full version of an e-mail he had sent to his sergeant titled "My Problem."

While Manning does not specifically identify the problem he was referring to, the e-mail includes an image of him wearing a long blond wig and makeup.

"It's not going away, its haunting me more and more as I get older," he wrote in the e-mail. "Now, the consequences of it are dire, at a time when it's causing me great pain in itself. As a result, I'm not sure what to do about it."

Manning's sister, Casey Major, and his aunt, Debra Van Alstyne, asked for leniency in sentencing after providing the court with an intimate look at his upbringing, which they said was characterized by absentee, alcoholic parents.

But the prosecution has offered a picture of a calculating Manning whose behavior was reckless, saying he put the lives of soldiers and civilians in danger.

During the court-martial, prosecution witnesses testified Manning downloaded and leaked 400,000 Pentagon field reports from Iraq and 90,0000 similar documents from Afghanistan. There evidence also presented that he downloaded and leaked more than 250,000 State Department cables.

The release of the classified material elevated what was once a virtually unknown WikiLeaks to a globally recognized name.

Outside the courtroom, Manning's civilian attorney, David Coombs, said he hoped the judge would see that "Bradley is certainly a person who had his heart in the right place."

Earlier in the case, Manning testified about his treatment by the Marines at Quantico Brig in Virginia. The judge ruled that the Marines' harsh treatment of Manning was out of line and granted him 112 days off his eventual sentence.

Later, before the start of his court-martial, Manning read a detailed statement after entering guilty pleas on 10 lesser charges in hopes the prosecution would pursue fewer of the charges against him. It didn't work.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/14/us/manning-sentencing/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[Roger Bacon]

What do you think of Snowden?

Surely he's a patriot for revealing something so illegal, unAmerican and just plain wrong?

[Dos Equis]

What do you think of Snowden?

Surely he's a patriot for revealing something so illegal, unAmerican and just plain wrong?

Same thing I think of Manning.  He's a traitor.  I'm glad we know about the spying, but as Manning has finally admitted, he "should have worked more aggressively within the system."  Had he done that, I would have been supportive.  

But disclosing secrets to the Chinese, Russians, and Great Britain, which had absolutely nothing to do with the NSA spying on American citizens, was flat out treason.  Indefensible.  

He and Manning should share cell.  

[Roger Bacon]

Same thing I think of Manning.  He's a traitor.  I'm glad we know about the spying, but as Manning has finally admitted, he "should have worked more aggressively within the system."  Had he done that, I would have been supportive.  

But disclosing secrets to the Chinese, Russians, and Great Britain, which had absolutely nothing to do with the NSA spying on American citizens, was flat out treason.  Indefensible.  

He and Manning should share cell.  

Okay, but do you think he could have accomplished anything at all going about it in any other way?

[Dos Equis]

Okay, but do you think he could have accomplished anything at all going about it in any other way?

I don't know for certain, but I do believe he could have gotten the word out about the NSA spying if he went through either an inspector general or hired someone to help him make a disclosure.  I think people would have rallied around him. 

Do you have a problem with him disclosing all of the information to other countries that had nothing to do with the NSA spying on American citizens? 

[Roger Bacon]

Do you have a problem with him disclosing all of the information to other countries that had nothing to do with the NSA spying on American citizens? 

I do if he's disclosing secrets that are clearly unrelated to crimes or misdeeds, and he's not doing it for the sole reason that he wants the American people to know about it.

[Dos Equis]

I do if he's disclosing secrets that are clearly unrelated to crimes or misdeeds, and he's not doing it for the sole reason that he wants the American people to know about it.

Agreed.

I also think we both agree the NSA spying on American citizens was wrong. 

[Roger Bacon]

Agreed.

I also think we both agree the NSA spying on American citizens was wrong. 

Yes, good

[Dos Equis]

Not long enough, but good. 

Manning sentenced to 35 years in WikiLeaks case
Aug. 21, 2013
By David Dishneau and Pauline Jelinek
The Associated Press

FORT MEADE, Md. – Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in prison for giving hundreds of thousands of secret military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks in one of the nation's biggest leak cases since the Pentagon Papers more than a generation ago.

In a brief hearing, military judge Col. Denise Lind didn't offer any explanation for the sentence she gave Manning, 25. The former intelligence analyst was found guilty last month of 20 crimes, including six violations of the Espionage Act, as part of the Obama administration's unprecedented crackdown on media leaks.

But the judge acquitted him of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy, an offense that could have meant life in prison without parole.

Manning could have gotten 90 years behind bars. Prosecutors asked for at least 60 years as a warning to other soldiers, while Manning's lawyer suggested he get no more than 25, because some of the documents he leaked will be declassified by then.

The native of Crescent, Okla., digitally copied and released more than 700,000 documents, including Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports and State Department cables, while working in 2010 in Iraq.

He also leaked video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that mistakenly killed at least nine people, including a Reuters photographer.

A potentially more explosive leak case unfolded as Manning's court-martial was underway, when former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was charged with espionage for exposing the NSA's Internet and telephone surveillance programs.

At his trial, Manning said he gave the material to the secrets-spilling website WikiLeaks to expose the U.S. military's "bloodlust" and generate debate over the wars and U.S. policy.

During the sentencing phase, he apologized for the damage he caused, saying, "When I made these decisions, I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people."

His lawyers also argued that Manning suffered extreme inner turmoil over his gender identity — his feeling that he was a woman trapped in a man's body — while serving in the macho military, which at the time barred gays from serving openly. Among the evidence was a photo of him in a blond wig and lipstick.

Defense attorney David Coombs told the judge that Manning had been full of youthful idealism.

"He had pure intentions at the time that he committed his offenses," Coombs said. "At that time, Pfc. Manning really, truly, genuinely believed that this information could make a difference."

Prosecutors did not present any evidence in open court that anyone was physically harmed as a direct result of Manning's actions. But they showed that al-Qaida used material from the helicopter attack in a propaganda video and that Osama bin Laden presumably read some of the leaked documents, which were published online by WikiLeaks. Some of the material was found in bin Laden's compound when it was raided.

Also, government witnesses testified the leaks endangered U.S. intelligence sources, some of whom were moved to other countries for their safety. And several ambassadors were recalled, expelled or reassigned because of embarrassing disclosures.

Prosecutors called Manning an anarchist and an attention-seeking traitor, while supporters have hailed him as a whistleblower and likened him to Daniel Ellsberg, the defense analyst who in 1971 leaked the Pentagon Papers, a secret history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, to The New York Times and other newspapers.

That case touched off an epic clash between the Nixon administration and the press and led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling on the First Amendment.

The Obama administration has charged seven people with leaking to the news media, while only three people were prosecuted in all previous administrations combined.

Among those seven is Snowden, whose leak has triggered a fierce debate over security vs. privacy and strained U.S. relations with Russia, which is harboring him despite demands he be returned to this country to face charges.

In addition, the Justice Department has obtained the records of phones used by Associated Press journalists and emails of a Fox News reporter.

Also, a federal appeals court ruled recently that New York Times reporter James Risen cannot shield his source when he testifies at the trial of a former CIA officer accused of leaking information about a secret operation.

A lawyer for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Michael Ratner, has suggested Manning's conviction could make it easier for federal prosecutors to get an indictment against Assange as a co-conspirator.

But other legal experts said the Australian's status as a foreigner and a publisher make it unlikely he will be indicted.

http://www.armytimes.com/article/20130821/NEWS06/308210020

[Vince G, CSN MFT]

Not long enough, but good. 

Manning sentenced to 35 years in WikiLeaks case
Aug. 21, 2013
By David Dishneau and Pauline Jelinek
The Associated Press

FORT MEADE, Md. – Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in prison for giving hundreds of thousands of secret military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks in one of the nation's biggest leak cases since the Pentagon Papers more than a generation ago.

In a brief hearing, military judge Col. Denise Lind didn't offer any explanation for the sentence she gave Manning, 25. The former intelligence analyst was found guilty last month of 20 crimes, including six violations of the Espionage Act, as part of the Obama administration's unprecedented crackdown on media leaks.

But the judge acquitted him of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy, an offense that could have meant life in prison without parole.

Manning could have gotten 90 years behind bars. Prosecutors asked for at least 60 years as a warning to other soldiers, while Manning's lawyer suggested he get no more than 25, because some of the documents he leaked will be declassified by then.

The native of Crescent, Okla., digitally copied and released more than 700,000 documents, including Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports and State Department cables, while working in 2010 in Iraq.

He also leaked video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that mistakenly killed at least nine people, including a Reuters photographer.

A potentially more explosive leak case unfolded as Manning's court-martial was underway, when former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was charged with espionage for exposing the NSA's Internet and telephone surveillance programs.

At his trial, Manning said he gave the material to the secrets-spilling website WikiLeaks to expose the U.S. military's "bloodlust" and generate debate over the wars and U.S. policy.

During the sentencing phase, he apologized for the damage he caused, saying, "When I made these decisions, I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people."

His lawyers also argued that Manning suffered extreme inner turmoil over his gender identity — his feeling that he was a woman trapped in a man's body — while serving in the macho military, which at the time barred gays from serving openly. Among the evidence was a photo of him in a blond wig and lipstick.

Defense attorney David Coombs told the judge that Manning had been full of youthful idealism.

"He had pure intentions at the time that he committed his offenses," Coombs said. "At that time, Pfc. Manning really, truly, genuinely believed that this information could make a difference."

Prosecutors did not present any evidence in open court that anyone was physically harmed as a direct result of Manning's actions. But they showed that al-Qaida used material from the helicopter attack in a propaganda video and that Osama bin Laden presumably read some of the leaked documents, which were published online by WikiLeaks. Some of the material was found in bin Laden's compound when it was raided.

Also, government witnesses testified the leaks endangered U.S. intelligence sources, some of whom were moved to other countries for their safety. And several ambassadors were recalled, expelled or reassigned because of embarrassing disclosures.

Prosecutors called Manning an anarchist and an attention-seeking traitor, while supporters have hailed him as a whistleblower and likened him to Daniel Ellsberg, the defense analyst who in 1971 leaked the Pentagon Papers, a secret history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, to The New York Times and other newspapers.

That case touched off an epic clash between the Nixon administration and the press and led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling on the First Amendment.

The Obama administration has charged seven people with leaking to the news media, while only three people were prosecuted in all previous administrations combined.

Among those seven is Snowden, whose leak has triggered a fierce debate over security vs. privacy and strained U.S. relations with Russia, which is harboring him despite demands he be returned to this country to face charges.

In addition, the Justice Department has obtained the records of phones used by Associated Press journalists and emails of a Fox News reporter.

Also, a federal appeals court ruled recently that New York Times reporter James Risen cannot shield his source when he testifies at the trial of a former CIA officer accused of leaking information about a secret operation.

A lawyer for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Michael Ratner, has suggested Manning's conviction could make it easier for federal prosecutors to get an indictment against Assange as a co-conspirator.

But other legal experts said the Australian's status as a foreigner and a publisher make it unlikely he will be indicted.

http://www.armytimes.com/article/20130821/NEWS06/308210020

He'll be out in 7 years based on the 35 year sentence.  He already got credit for 4 years and he'll be eligible for parole in that time......however, this sentence may end up being commuted to time served on Appeal. 

The problem with the sentence is that its actually harsher than sentences handed out in the past for worse offenses committed....especially since he didn't profit from it as others did...or at least at this time. 

[Dos Equis]

He'll be out in 7 years based on the 35 year sentence.  He already got credit for 4 years and he'll be eligible for parole in that time......however, this sentence may end up being commuted to time served on Appeal. 

The problem with the sentence is that its actually harsher than sentences handed out in the past for worse offenses committed....especially since he didn't profit from it as others did...or at least at this time. 

How did you determine he will only serve seven years? 

The problem with the sentence is it isn't long enough.  How can there be harsher sentences when this is the worst leaker in American history?? 

[Dos Equis]

Good.

Manning sentence approved by Washington military district commander
Case of convicted WikiLeaker now automatically appealed
April 14, 2014|By Matthew Hay Brown, The Baltimore Sun

WASHINGTON — — The commander of the Army Military District of Washington has approved the findings of the court-martial last year of WikiLeaker Chelsea Manning.

Manning, who served as an intelligence analyst for the Army in Baghdad in 2009 and 2010 as Pfc. Bradley Manning, was accused of giving hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. She was tried last year at Fort Meade, found guilty of 20 offenses and sentenced to 35 years in a military prison.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan approved the findings and the sentence last week, officials said Monday. The case will now be appealed automatically to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals.

Manning, who lived with an aunt in Potomac and studied at Montgomery College before enlisting in 2007, has filed requests for a pardon from President Barack Obama and clemency from Army Secretary John M. McHugh. Her former attorney says he has been advised that neither a pardon nor clemency will be considered until the appeals process is complete.

Manning acknowledged leaking diplomatic cables, war logs from Afghanistan and Iraq and gunsight video of a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack that killed civilians in Baghdad in the hope of provoking debate on U.S. foreign policy.

Critics say she is a traitor whose leaks risked American lives. Supporters say the information deserved a public airing and endangered no one.

Col. Denise Lind, the military judge who heard the case against Manning last year, found her guilty of wrongful possession and transmission of national defense information, theft of government information, unauthorized access to a government computer and wrongful possession and transmission of protected government information, violation of lawful regulations related to his computer use and storage of classified information and wrongful publication of U.S. intelligence information.

Lind sentenced Manning to 35 years of confinement, reduction to the rank of private, dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances.

Buchanan, as the convening authority in Manning's court-martial, had the authority to disapprove any or all of the findings and to disapprove or modify any or all of the sentence. He did not have the authority to impose additional punishment or change a finding of not guilty to guilty.

Manning is being held at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Attorney David Coombs, who represented her through the court-martial, said in October that Manning was being held in the general population, where she is able to receive visitors, telephone calls and correspondence.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-04-14/news/bs-md-manning-sentence-approved-20140414_1_manning-sentence-manning-to-35-years-attorney-david-coombs

[Vince G, CSN MFT]

How did you determine he will only serve seven years? 

The problem with the sentence is it isn't long enough.  How can there be harsher sentences when this is the worst leaker in American history?? 

He's the only leaker who did it for no money....just a delusional idea that it was the right thing to do. 

[240 is Back]

Maybe he committed his crimes as "acts of love"?

I mean, you can disobey the BLM/cattle laws that REAGAN created, and hey, you're a patriot.
You can sneak into the USA and be here illegally, you just love your family.

I think the dude belongs in jail too - But the way repubs are just excusing lawbreaking lately cause they don't agree with them... maybe a little consistency wouldn't hurt.

[Dos Equis]

Your tax dollars hard at work here people.

Pentagon pushes Manning transfer for gender treatment
Tom Vanden Brook and Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY 6:10 p.m. EDT May 14, 2014

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has approved an Army request to transfer national-security secrets leaker Pvt. Chelsea Manning to a civilian prison that could provide her treatment to transition to a woman, Pentagon officials say.

Manning's lawyer blasted the announcement, saying it was a "strong-arm" attempt to force Manning into dropping her request for the treatment.

"The Secretary approved a request by Army leadership to evaluate potential treatment options for inmates diagnosed with gender dysphoria," Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement.

The soldier, formerly named Bradley Manning, was convicted of sending classified documents to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Manning is serving a 35-year prison sentence and is eligible for parole in seven years.

Manning has asked for hormone therapy and to be able to live as a woman. Transgenders are not allowed to serve in the U.S. military and the Defense Department does not provide such treatment. The Department of Veterans Affairs, however, does provide the treatment for veterans.

MORE: VA, federal prisons pay for transgender treatments

"The Pentagon's strategic leak of this story to the media is a transparent attempt to pressure Chelsea into dropping her request for needed treatment under the artificial guise of concern for her medical needs," David Coombs, Manning's lawyer, said in a statement. "It is common knowledge that the federal prison system cannot guarantee the safety and security of Chelsea in the way that the military prison system can."

Granting Manning's request for treatment is the humane thing to do, said Allyson Robinson, policy director for SPARTA, an advocacy group for LGBT troops and veterans.

"It is the constitutional right of every American to be spared cruel and unusual punishment for their crimes," Robinson said.

Manning, in a statement provided by his legal-defense fund, said she did not request the transfer and was satisfied with the "conservative" treatment plan approved by the Army.

"I was content with this plan," Manning said in a statement provided by the Chelsea Manning Support Network. "Based on these facts I don't understand why the office of the Secretary of Defense would feel the need to punt this issue by transferring me."

STORY: Transgender troops hail Hagel's announcement

At Manning's trial last year, her attorneys argued that she had been disillusioned by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and believed the release of the documents, including diplomatic cables and military reports, should be seen by the public. Prosecutors called the leaks, which vaulted Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks organization to international prominence, treasonous.

Of the 216,000 inmates in the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, about 90 prisoners have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, according to a statement the bureau issued Wednesday.

"In terms of cost, we don't have any estimates in this regard,'' BOP spokesman Ed Ross said. "Each inmate has ‎individualized treatment needs."

On Sunday, Hagel indicated that he was open to reviewing the Pentagon's policy of automatically discharging transgender troops. A review is the first step in changing or scrapping military policies.

Recent research could support Hagel if he chooses to overturn the policy. A report by former U.S. surgeon general Joycelyn Elders, sponsored by a LGBT advocacy group, noted that denying transgender troops hormone treatment is inconsistent with treatment offered to other troops.

The report estimates that there are 15,000 transgender troops in the ranks.

The Army does have at least one transgender official; civilian Defense Department workers are not subject to the military ban. Amanda Simpson was appointed to a top Army post by President Obama. She now serves as the Executive Director, Energy Initiatives Task Force.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/05/14/pentagon-chelsea-manning/9069755/

[Dos Equis]

Chelsea Manning to undergo sex reassignment surgery
By: Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today, 
September 13, 2016

WASHINGTON -— Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning has been assured she will receive gender reassignment surgery while in prison, her lawyer said late Tuesday.

Manning, convicted in the massive leak of national security secrets that propelled WikiLeaks to prominence, is serving a 35-year sentence at the Army's prison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan. She is eligible for parole in about six years.

Manning ended a hunger strike begun last week after receiving assurances that the government would provide the surgery, said Chase Strangio, her lawyer and an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. Manning's doctors recommended in April that she have the male-to-female surgery, Strangio said.

No timeline has been set for her surgery, Strangio said. Manning will meet with her doctors in the next week or two.

Manning sued for access to hormone treatment, and the Army agreed to provide it last year.

In July, the Pentagon repealed its ban on allowing transgender troops to serve. It also announced that it would begin medical treatment for transgender troops, including reassignment surgery.

There are between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender troops in the active-duty force of 1.3 million, according the RAND Corp. which conducted a study for the Pentagon on the issue. Of those troops, RAND estimates that between 30 and 140 would like to seek hormone treatment, and 25 to 130 would seek surgery. The estimated annual price tag: $2.4 million to $8.4 million, per year.

Treatment is estimated to cost as much as $50,000 per service member. Treatment generally moves from counseling to hormone therapy, and in relatively rare cases, gender reassignment surgery. A military doctor must deem the treatment medically necessary.

http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/chelsea-manning-to-undergo-sex-reassignment-surgery

[Dos Equis]

Not surprised.  What's next?  A Hillary Clinton pardon?   

Obama commutes sentence of Chelsea Manning
By Laura Jarrett, CNN
Tue January 17, 2017

Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama on Tuesday commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, who was convicted of stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of documents and videos to WikiLeaks.

The President also pardoned James Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, who pleaded guilty in October to a single charge of making false statements to federal investigators in 2012 when he was questioned about leaking top secret information on US efforts to cripple Iran's nuclear program to two journalists.

Manning, a transgender woman and former US Army soldier, was serving a 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth, an all-male Army prison in eastern Kansas, despite her request to transfer to a civilian prison. A White House statement on Tuesday said her prison sentence is set to expire on May 17.

The material, which WikiLeaks published in 2010, included a classified video of a US helicopter attacking civilians and journalists in Iraq in 2007. Labeled "Collateral Murder," the film drew criticism from human rights activists for the deaths of innocent people.

When asked about WikiLeaks in the wake of the releases, President-elect Donald Trump told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade in 2010: "I think it's disgraceful. I think there should be like death penalty or something."

Though found guilty on 20 out of 22 possible charges (including violating the US Espionage Act), Manning was not convicted of the most serious one; aiding the enemy, which could have earned the private a life sentence.

Instead, the former intelligence analyst was sentenced to 35 years in prison, as well as demoted from private first class to private and dishonorably discharged.

Earlier this month, WikiLeaks said it would agree to a US extradition request for the site's founder, Julian Assange, if Obama granted clemency to Manning. It was not immediately clear if WikiLeaks would make good on its promise, though the group declared "victory" in a tweet Tuesday afternoon.

A former intelligence official described being "shocked" to learn of Obama's decision Tuesday. The official added that the "entire intelligence community is deflated by this inexplicable use of executive power," saying it was "deeply hypocritical given Obama's denunciation of WikiLeaks' role in the hacking of the (Democratic National Committee)."

But Chase Strangio, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Manning, said he was "relieved and thankful" Obama commuted her sentence.

"Since she was first taken into custody, Chelsea has been subjected to long stretches of solitary confinement -- including for attempting suicide -- and has been denied access to medically necessary health care," Strangio said in a statement. "This move could quite literally save Chelsea's life, and we are all better off knowing that Chelsea Manning will walk out of prison a free woman, dedicated to making the world a better place and fighting for justice for so many."

Amnesty International also cheered news of Manning's commutation.

"Chelsea Manning exposed serious abuses, and as a result, her own human rights have been violated by the US government for years," Margaret Huang, the group's executive director, said in a statement. "President Obama was right to commute her sentence, but it is long overdue. It is unconscionable that she languished in prison for years while those allegedly implicated by the information she revealed still haven't been brought to justice."

Republican members of Congress, however, expressed outrage.

"This was grave harm to our national security. and Chelsea Manning is serving a sentence and should continue to serve that sentence," Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, told CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead."

Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, told reporters on Capitol Hill that he considered Manning a "traitor" and said he was "disappointed" about the commutation.

"If somebody leaks our state secrets, endangers Americans directly, we need to set an example that is severe and consistent," he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/17/politics/chelsea-manning-sentence-commuted/

[Soul Crusher]

but not assange or sonwden?

[Yamcha]

but not assange or sonwden?

Julian cannot be pardoned; he's currently not being charged for anything in the US, only Sweden.

He could be granted asylum though.

[Dos Equis]

Julian cannot be pardoned; he's currently not being charged for anything in the US, only Sweden.

He could be granted asylum though.

If he announced he was gay, bisexual, etc. he'd probably be pardoned tomorrow. 

[Vince G, CSN MFT]

How did you determine he will only serve seven years? 

The problem with the sentence is it isn't long enough.  How can there be harsher sentences when this is the worst leaker in American history?? 

I rest my case