Bradley Manning

[waltky]

What about Bergdahl, Assange, & Hillary?...

Chelsea Manning to Be Released Early as Obama Commutes Sentence
JAN. 17, 2017 | WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday commuted all but four months of the remaining prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the Army intelligence analyst convicted of a 2010 leak that revealed American military and diplomatic activities across the world, disrupted Mr. Obama’s administration and brought global prominence to WikiLeaks, the recipient of those disclosures.

The decision by Mr. Obama rescued Ms. Manning, who twice tried to kill herself last year, from an uncertain future as a transgender woman incarcerated at the men’s military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. She has been jailed for nearly seven years, and her 35-year sentence was by far the longest punishment ever imposed in the United States for a leak conviction. At the same time that Mr. Obama commuted the sentence of Ms. Manning, a low-ranking enlisted soldier at the time of her leaks, he also pardoned James E. Cartwright, the retired Marine general and former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who pleaded guilty to lying about his conversations with reporters to F.B.I. agents investigating a leak of classified information about cyberattacks on Iran’s nuclear program. [Page A3.]

The two acts of clemency were a remarkable final step for a president whose administration carried out an unprecedented criminal crackdown on leaks of government secrets. Depending on how they are counted, the Obama administration has prosecuted either nine or 10 such cases, more than were charged under all previous presidencies combined.
Continue reading the main story In addition, Mr. Obama on Tuesday commuted the sentence of Oscar Lopez Rivera, who was part of a Puerto Rican nationalist group that carried out a string of bombings in the late 1970s and early 1980s; the other members of that group had long since been freed. Mr. Obama also granted 63 other pardons and 207 other commutations, mostly for drug offenders.

Under the terms of the commutation announced by the White House on Tuesday, Ms. Manning is set to be freed on May 17 of this year rather than in 2045. A senior administration official said the 120-day delay was part of a standard transition period for commutations to time served, and was designed to allow for such steps as finding a place for Ms. Manning to live after her release. The commutation also relieved the Defense Department of the difficult responsibility of Ms. Manning’s incarceration as she pushes for treatment for her gender dysphoria, including sex reassignment surgery, that the military has no experience providing.

But the move was sharply criticized by several prominent Republicans, including the chairmen of the House and Senate armed services committees, Representative Mac Thornberry of Texas and Senator John McCain of Arizona, who called her leaks “espionage” and said they had put American troops and the country at risk. Speaker Paul D. Ryan called it “outrageous.” “President Obama now leaves in place a dangerous precedent that those who compromise our national security won’t be held accountable for their crimes,” he said in a statement. But in a joint statement, Nancy Hollander and Vince Ward — two lawyers who have been representing Ms. Manning in appealing her conviction and sentence, and who filed the commutation application — praised the decision.

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[Big Black Dog]

This asshole should have been shot but instead Obama gives him an easy ride. #FuckObama.

 

[Claudette]

This asshole should have been shot but instead Obama gives him an easy ride. #FuckObama.

I agree. That traitor should have been tried for treason and put to death.

No telling how many of our valued informants were killed because of what he did.

No telling how many of our troops he put in harms way.

What a douchebag and a half Obama is.

 

[waltky]

Mediocre President makes mediocre decision...

Vets Slam Obama's Decision to Shorten Manning's Sentence
Jan 19, 2017 | Many vets wasted little time registering their disapproval of President Barack Obama's decision to commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who leaked troves of classified intelligence to the website Wikileaks.

Former service members and veterans service organizations alike reacted quickly to the news after it broke on Tuesday. Military.com's story alone generated more than 800 comments on the website and more than 1,600 on its Facebook page, most of them critical. "As a classified documents custodian among other classified jobs while active duty, I find this pardoning mess to be as treasonous as the release of the documents themselves," one reader wrote. "This is a slap in the face to anybody punished for minor procedural infractions involving classified information. I witnessed careers destroyed for locking confidential memos in desks instead of safes. It is a sad day for anybody who ever wore a American military uniform."

In an email, another reader, Thomas Prager, wrote, "I can't believe the Army paid for [her] transgender surgery, and I while on active duty separated my shoulder [but] was denied surgery because it was not [deemed] necessary." Manning, 29, of Oklahoma City, is imprisoned at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas as part of a 35-year sentence she received in August 2013 after pleading guilty to multiple charges under the Espionage Act. She is now set to be freed May 17, according to a release from the White House. She was to be eligible for parole in 2021. Manning was among 209 inmates whose sentences were shortened by Obama. Another was Dwight J. Loving, a former Army private stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, who murdered two cab drivers, both with military experience. Loving's death sentence was downgraded to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Chelsea Manning, center, attempted suicide for a second time on Oct 4.​

The president also pardoned another 64 people facing crimes, including retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who pleaded guilty in October to lying to federal investigators about discussing the Iranian nuclear program with reporters. Brian Duffy, national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, blasted the presidential action commuting the sentences of the two military prisoners and pardoning a retired general officer. "President Obama has upended the entire military justice system," Duffy said in a statement. "To release from prison former Army Pvt. Bradley Manning, who was sentenced to serve 35 years for releasing three-quarters of a million classified and sensitive military and diplomatic communiques, is offensive to everyone who has ever honorably served in uniform."

Duffy added, "To change a death sentence to life in prison for former Army Pfc. Dwight Loving shows more concern for the convicted murderer than the families of the two dead taxicab drivers he killed. And to pardon retired Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, who was convicted of lying to the FBI and releasing sensitive intelligence information to reporters, certainly proves once again that rank does have its privileges." The VFW commander said, "No one is above the law and those who break the law must pay the price, regardless of who they are." Obama, meanwhile, defended his decision to commute Manning's sentence. "Chelsea Manning has served a tough prison sentence, so the notion that the average person who was thinking about disclosing vital classified information would think that it goes unpunished I don’t think would get that impression from the sentence that Chelsea Manning has served," Obama said Wednesday during his final White House press conference as president.

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[DigitalDrifter]

He's a disgrace and traitor to every American who has taken the oath and served.