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{{Short description|2013 court-martial of U.S. Army officer Chelsea Manning for distributing classified info}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox court case {{Infobox court case
|name = United States v. Bradley Manning |name = United States v. Manning
|court = ] |court = ]
|image = Bradley Manning US Army.jpg |image = Emblem of the U.S. Department of the Army.svg
|imagesize = 200 |imagesize = 100px
|imagealt = photograph |imagealt =
|caption = Private First Class ] |caption =
|full name = United States of America v. Manning, Bradley E., PFC |full name = United States of America v. Manning, Bradley E., PFC
|date decided = <!-- {{Start date|YYY|MM|DD}} --> |date decided = <!-- {{Start date|YYY|MM|DD}} -->
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|number of judges = 1 |number of judges = 1
|decision by = |decision by =
|prior actions = ], opened December 16, 2011<br />Formally charged, February 23, 2012<br />Article 39 (pre-trial) hearing, opened April 24, 2012 |prior actions = ], opened December 16, 2011<br/>Formally charged, February 23, 2012<br/>Article 39 (pre-trial) hearing, opened April 24, 2012
|appealed from = |appealed from =
|appealed to = |appealed to =
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|italic title = yes |italic title = yes
}} }}
'''''United States v. Bradley Manning''''' is the ] of United States Army ] ].<ref name=Rizzo>Jennifer Rizzo, , CNN, February 23, 2012.</ref>


'''''United States v. Manning''''' was the ] of former United States Army ], ].{{efn|At the time known as Bradley Manning.}}<ref name=Rizzo>Jennifer Rizzo, , CNN, February 23, 2012.</ref><ref>Patrick Semansky, , ''Toronto Star'', August 22, 2013.</ref>
Manning was arrested in May 2010 in Iraq, where he had been stationed since October 2009, after ], a computer hacker in the United States, told the ] (FBI) that Manning had acknowledged passing classified material to the whistleblower website, ].<ref>Denver Nicks, , ''This Land'', September 23, 2010.</ref> Manning was ultimately charged with 22 specified offenses, including communicating national defense information to an unauthorized source, and the most serious of the charges, ].<ref name=Rizzo/> Other charges include violations of the ], stealing U.S. government property, charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and charges related to the failure to obey lawful general orders under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He entered guilty pleas to 10 of 22 specified offenses in February 2013.<ref>, CBS News, February 28, 2013.</ref> The trial began on June 3, 2013.<ref name=TateJune32013>Julie Tate and Ellen Nakashima, , ''The Washington Post'', June 3, 2013.</ref> It went to the judge on July 26, 2013 and findings were rendered on July 30.<ref>{{cite news|title=Closing arguments conclude; Manning's fate now with judge|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/25/justice/manning-court-martial/index.html|publisher=CNN|accessdate=26 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news|title=Verdict in Manning trial to be read Tuesday|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/29/justice/manning-court-martial/index.html|publisher=CNN|accessdate=29 July 2013}}</ref> Manning was acquitted of the most serious charge, that of ], for giving secrets to WikiLeaks. In addition to five <ref>{{cite web| author=Matt Sledge|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/30/bradley-manning-guilty_n_3677096.html |title=Bradley Manning Found Guilty Of 19 Counts, Not Guilty Of Aiding The Enemy |publisher=huffingtonpost.com |date=2013-07-30 |accessdate=2013-07-30}}</ref><ref name="atlanticverdict">{{cite web|url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/07/bradley-manning-verdict/67780/|title=Bradley Manning Found Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy|author=Dashiell Bennett|date=2013-07-30|publisher=theatlanticwire.com}}</ref><ref name="epochverdict">{{cite web|url=http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/217167-bradley-manning-acquitted-of-aiding-the-enemy-found-guilty-of-violating-espionage-act/|title=Bradley Manning Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy, Found Guilty of Violating Espionage Act|author= Zachary Stieber|publisher=Epoch Times|date=2013-07-30}}</ref> or six<ref name="nydailynews">{{cite web|title=Army Pfc. Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy, convicted of six counts of espionage|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bradley-manning-acquitted-aiding-enemy-article-1.1412787|publisher=NY Daily News|accessdate=30 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|title=Manning Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/us/bradley-manning-verdict.html|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=30 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="cbsnews">{{cite web|title=Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy for giving secrets to WikiLeaks|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57596093/bradley-manning-acquitted-of-aiding-the-enemy-for-giving-secrets-to-wikileaks/|publisher=CBS News|accessdate=30 July 2013}}</ref> espionage counts, he was also found guilty of five theft specifications, two computer fraud specifications and multiple military infractions. Manning had previously admitted guilt on some of the specified charges before the trial.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23506213 |title=BBC News - Bradley Manning guilty of espionage in Wikileaks case |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=2013-07-30}}</ref> On 21 August 2013 Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He is expected to appeal, and may be eligible for parole after serving at least one third of the sentence. <ref name=GuardianLive35y>{{cite news|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/21/bradley-manning-sentencing-wikileaks-live|title=Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison – live updates|accessdate=21 August 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=21 August 2013}}</ref><ref name=WaPo21Aug2013>{{cite news|title=Judge sentences Bradley Manning to 35 years|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/judge-to-sentence-bradley-manning-today/2013/08/20/85bee184-09d0-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd_story.html|accessdate=21 August 2013|newspaper=Washington Post|date=21 August 2013}}</ref>

After serving in Iraq since October 2009, Manning was arrested in May 2010 after ], a computer hacker in the United States, indirectly informed the Army's ] that Manning had acknowledged passing classified material to ].<ref name="FeltIsolated">{{Cite news|title=Alleged Army Whistleblower Felt "Isolated"|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/alleged-army-whistleblower-felt-isolated/|date=7 July 2010|publisher=CBS News}}</ref> Manning was ultimately charged with 22 specified offenses, including communicating national defense information to an unauthorized source, and the most serious of the charges, ].<ref name=Rizzo/> Other charges included violations of the ], stealing U.S. government property, charges under the ] and charges related to the failure to obey lawful general orders under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Manning entered guilty pleas to 10 of 22 specified offenses in February 2013.<ref>, CBS News, February 28, 2013.</ref>

The trial on the 12 remaining charges began on June 3, 2013.<ref name=TateJune32013>Julie Tate and Ellen Nakashima, , ''The Washington Post'', June 3, 2013.</ref> It went to the judge on July 26, 2013, and findings were rendered on July 30.<ref>{{cite news|title=Closing arguments conclude; Manning's fate now with judge|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/25/justice/manning-court-martial/index.html|publisher=CNN|access-date=July 26, 2013|date=July 26, 2013}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news|title=Verdict in Manning trial to be read Tuesday|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/29/justice/manning-court-martial/index.html|publisher=CNN|access-date=July 29, 2013|date=July 29, 2013}}</ref> Manning was acquitted of the most serious charge, that of aiding the enemy, for giving secrets to WikiLeaks. In addition to five<ref>{{cite news| author=Matt Sledge|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/30/bradley-manning-guilty_n_3677096.html |title=Bradley Manning Found Guilty of 19 Counts, Not Guilty of Aiding The Enemy |publisher=huffingtonpost.com |date=July 30, 2013 |access-date=July 30, 2013}}</ref><ref name="atlanticverdict">{{cite web|url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/07/bradley-manning-verdict/67780/|title=Bradley Manning Found Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy|author=Dashiell Bennett|date=July 30, 2013|publisher=theatlanticwire.com|access-date=July 30, 2013|archive-date=October 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012030346/http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/07/bradley-manning-verdict/67780/|url-status=dead}}</ref> or six<ref name="nydailynews">{{cite news|title=Army Pfc. Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy, convicted of six counts of espionage|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bradley-manning-acquitted-aiding-enemy-article-1.1412787|publisher=NY Daily News|access-date=July 30, 2013|location=New York}}</ref><ref name=NYTimes2013-07-31/><ref name="cbsnews">{{cite news|title=Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy for giving secrets to WikiLeaks|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bradley-manning-acquitted-of-aiding-the-enemy-for-giving-secrets-to-wikileaks/|publisher=CBS News|access-date=July 30, 2013}}</ref> espionage counts, Manning was also found guilty of five theft specifications, two computer fraud specifications and multiple military infractions.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23506213 |title=BBC News Bradley Manning guilty of espionage in Wikileaks case |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=July 30, 2013}}</ref>

On August 21, 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment, reduction in ] to ], forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a ].<ref>{{cite news|last=Dishneau|first=David|title=Manning Gets 35 years for wikileaks disclosures|url=http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/manning-gets-35-years-for-wikileaks-disclosures|work=MSN.com|agency=Associated Press|access-date=August 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823033702/http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/manning-gets-35-years-for-wikileaks-disclosures|archive-date=August 23, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> On January 17, 2017, ] ] ] Manning's sentence to a total of seven years' confinement. Manning was released on May 17, 2017.<ref name="HillObamaCommutes">{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/314663-obama-commutes-chelsea-mannings-sentence/|title=Obama commutes Chelsea Manning's sentence|date=January 17, 2017}}</ref><ref name="nyt-17jan2017">{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/us/politics/obama-commutes-bulk-of-chelsea-mannings-sentence.html | title=Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning's Sentence | newspaper=] | date=January 17, 2017 | access-date=January 17, 2017 | last=Savage | first=Charlie}}</ref> On May 31, 2018, the ] upheld Manning's conviction of violating the Espionage Act of 1917.<ref name=CourtOfCriminalAppeals>{{cite web|url=http://reason.com/volokh/2018/06/01/chelsea-manning-loses-wikileaks-first-am|title=Chelsea Manning Loses Wikileaks First Amendment Appeal|last=Volokh|first=Eugene|date=June 1, 2018|website=reason.com|publisher=]|access-date=June 1, 2018 }}</ref>


==Background== ==Background==
{{see|List of charges against Bradley Manning}} {{further|List of charges in United States v. Manning}}
The material in question includes 251,287 ], over 400,000 classified army reports from the Iraq War (the ]), and 90,000 army reports from the war in Afghanistan (the ]). WikiLeaks also received two videos. One was of the ] (dubbed the "]" video); the second, which was never published, was of the May 2009 ] in Afghanistan.<ref>Kim Zetter, , ''Wired'', February 3, 2012.</ref> The material includes 251,287 ], over 400,000 classified army reports from the Iraq War (the ]), and approximately 90,000 army reports from the war in Afghanistan (the ]). WikiLeaks also received two videos. One was of the ] (dubbed the "]" video); the second, which was never published, was of the May 2009 ] in Afghanistan.<ref>Kim Zetter, , ''Wired'', February 3, 2012.</ref>


Manning was charged on July 5, 2010, with violations of Articles 92 and ] of the ], which were alleged to have taken place between November 19, 2009, and May 27, 2010.<ref>, CNN, August 31, 2010. Manning was charged on July 5, 2010, with violations of Articles 92 and ] of the ], which were alleged to have taken place between November 19, 2009, and May 27, 2010.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427120619/http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-31/us/wikileaks.suspect.attorney_1_bradley-manning-wikileaks-website-leaker?_s=PM:US |date=April 27, 2012 }}, CNN, August 31, 2010.
* , courtesy of Cryptome, accessed May 4, 2012. * .
* , ''The Washington Post'', accessed April 7, 2012.</ref> These were replaced on March 1, 2011, with 22 specifications, including aiding the enemy, wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the Internet knowing that it was accessible to the enemy, theft of public property or records, and transmitting defense information. Manning was found not guilty for the most serious of the charges, aiding the enemy, for which Manning could have faced life in prison..<ref>, CBS News, March 2, 2011. * , ''The Washington Post'', accessed April 7, 2012.</ref> These were replaced on March 1, 2011, with 22 specifications, including aiding the enemy, wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the Internet knowing that it was accessible to the enemy, theft of public property or records, and transmitting defense information. Manning was found not guilty of aiding the enemy, the most serious charge, for which Manning could have faced the death penalty or life imprisonment.<ref>, CBS News, March 2, 2011.
* For figures from ABC, see Luis Martinez, , ABC News, March 2, 2011. * For figures from ABC, see Luis Martinez, , ABC News, March 2, 2011.
* Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, , msnbc.com, March 2, 2011.</ref> * Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, , NBC News, March 2, 2011.</ref>


==Pre-trial hearings== ==Pre-trial hearings==

===Article 32 hearing=== ===Article 32 hearing===
].]] ].]]
A panel of experts ruled in April 2011 that Manning was fit to stand trial.<ref>, Associated Press, April 29, 2011.</ref> An ], presided over by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Almanza, was convened on December 16, 2011, at ], Maryland, to determine whether to proceed to a court martial. The army was represented by Captain Ashden Fein, Captain Joe Morrow, and Captain Angel Overgaard. Manning was represented by military attorneys Major Matthew Kemkes and Captain Paul Bouchard, and by civilian attorney ]. A panel of experts ruled in April 2011 that Manning was fit to stand trial.<ref>, Associated Press, April 29, 2011.</ref> An ], presided over by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Almanza, was convened on December 16, 2011, at ], Maryland, to determine whether to proceed to a court martial. The army was represented by Captains Ashden Fein, Joe Morrow, and Angel Overgaard. Manning was represented by military attorneys Major Matthew Kemkes and Captain Paul Bouchard, and by civilian attorney ].


The hearing resulted in Almanza recommending that Manning be referred to a general court-martial, and on February 3, 2012, Major General Michael Linnington – commanding general of the ], the court-martial convening authority ordered him to stand trial on all 22 specified charges, including aiding the enemy. He was formally charged (]) on February 23, and declined to enter a plea.<ref>That he was deemed fit to stand trial, see , Associated Press, April 29, 2011. The hearing resulted in Almanza recommending that Manning be referred to a general court-martial, and on February 3, 2012, the ], ] Michael Linnington, commander of the ],<ref name="MDW Cdr">Linnington was later promoted to Lt. Gen. and became the {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013193009/http://prhome.defense.gov/BIOS/michaelLinnington.aspx |date=October 13, 2013 }}. His replacement at MDW is Maj. Gen. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015010458/http://mdwhome.mdw.army.mil/leaders/commanding-general |date=October 15, 2013 }}.</ref> ordered Manning to stand trial on all 22 specified charges, including aiding the enemy. Manning was ]ed on February 23, and declined to enter a plea.<ref>Regarding fitness to stand trial, see , Associated Press, April 29, 2011.
* For the lawyers' names, see , courtesy of politico.com, accessed May 9, 2012. * For the lawyers' names, see , courtesy of politico.com, accessed May 9, 2012.
* For WikiLeaks summaries of the hearings, see: * For WikiLeaks summaries of the hearings, see:
Line 47: Line 55:
:*, WikiLeaks, December 17, 2011. :*, WikiLeaks, December 17, 2011.
:*, WikiLeaks, December 18, 2011. :*, WikiLeaks, December 18, 2011.
:*, WikiLeaks, December 19, 2011. :*, WikiLeaks, December 19, 2011.
:*, WikiLeaks, December 20, 2011. :*, WikiLeaks, December 20, 2011.
:*, WikiLeaks, December 21, 2011. :*, WikiLeaks, December 21, 2011.
:*, WikiLeaks, December 22, 2011. :*, WikiLeaks, December 22, 2011.
* For the order that he stand trial, see Kim Zetter, , ''Wired'', February 3, 2012. * For the order that she stand trial, see Kim Zetter, , ''Wired'', February 3, 2012.
* For the formal charging (arraignment), see Jennifer Rizzo, , CNN, February 23, 2012.</ref> * For the formal charging (arraignment), see Jennifer Rizzo, , CNN, February 23, 2012.</ref>


====Prosecution evidence==== ====Prosecution evidence====
The lead prosecutor, Capt. Ashden Fein, argued that Manning had given enemies "unfettered access" to the material and had displayed an "absolute indifference" to classified information. He showed the court a video of ], an al-Qaeda spokesman, referencing the leaked material.<ref>Denver Nicks, ''Private: Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks, and the Biggest Exposure of Official Secrets in American History'', Chicago Review Press, 2012, p. 3.</ref> The lead prosecutor, Captain Fein, argued that Manning had given enemies "unfettered access" to the material and had displayed an "absolute indifference" to classified information. He showed the court a video of ], an al-Qaeda spokesman, referencing the leaked material.<ref>Denver Nicks, ''Private: Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks, and the Biggest Exposure of Official Secrets in American History'', Chicago Review Press, 2012, p. 3.</ref>


The prosecution presented 300,000 pages of documents in evidence, including chat logs and classified material. Nicks writes that Manning appeared to have taken few security precautions. After his arrest, detectives searched his basement room in his aunt's house in Potomac, Maryland, and found an ] they say contained the Afghan and Iraq War logs, along with a message to WikiLeaks. Investigators said he had also left trails on his computers of Google and ] searches, and of using ] to download documents.<ref>Nicks 2012, p. 223.</ref> The prosecution presented 300,000 pages of documents in evidence, including chat logs and classified material. Nicks writes that Manning appeared to have taken few security precautions. After Manning's arrest, detectives searched a basement room in Potomac, Maryland, and found an ] they say contained the Afghan and Iraq War logs, along with a message to WikiLeaks. Investigators said Manning had also left computer trails of Google and ] searches, and of using ] to download documents.<ref>Nicks 2012, p. 223.</ref>


The court heard from two army investigators, Special Agent David Shaver, head of the digital forensics and research branch of the army's Computer Crime Investigative Unit (CCIU), and Mark Johnson, a digital forensics contractor from ], who works for the CCIU. They testified that they had found 100,000 State Department cables on a computer Manning had used between November 2009 and May 2010; 400,000 U.S. military reports from Iraq and 91,000 from Afghanistan on the SD card in his aunt's home; and 10,000 cables on his personal MacBook Pro and storage devices that they said had not been passed to WikiLeaks because a file was corrupted. They also said they had recovered an exchange from May 2010 between Manning and Eric Schmiedl, a Boston mathematician, in which Manning said he was the source of the Baghdad helicopter attack ("Collateral Murder") video.<ref name=hearing/> Lieutenant Colonel Almanza heard from two army investigators, Special Agent David Shaver, head of the digital forensics and research branch of the army's Computer Crime Investigative Unit (CCIU), and Mark Johnson, a digital forensics contractor from ], who works for the CCIU. They testified that they had found 100,000 State Department cables on a computer Manning had used between November 2009 and May 2010; 400,000 U.S. military reports from Iraq and 91,000 from Afghanistan on the SD card; and 10,000 cables on a personal MacBook Pro and storage devices that they said had not been passed to WikiLeaks because a file was corrupted. They also said they had recovered an exchange from May 2010 between Manning and Eric Schmiedl, a Boston mathematician, in which Manning had admitted to being the source of the Baghdad helicopter attack ("Collateral Murder") video.<ref name=hearing/>


Johnson said he found a text file called wl-press.txt on an external hard drive in Manning's room in Iraq. The file was created on November 30, 2009, and gave the contact detail in Iceland for WikiLeaks. He said he also recovered 14–15 pages of encrypted chats, in unallocated space on Manning's MacBook's hard drive, between Manning and someone believed to be Julian Assange, using the ] instant messaging client. The MacBook's log-in password was found to be the encryption key. Two of the chat handles, which used the Berlin ]'s domain (ccc.de), had names associated with them, Julian Assange and Nathaniel Frank. Johnson also said he found ] on the MacBook that showed an ], from an IP address that resolved to Manning's aunt's home, to a Swedish IP address with links to WikiLeaks.<ref name=hearing/> There was also a text file named "Readme" attached to the logs, apparently written by Manning: Johnson said he found a text file called wl-press.txt on an external hard drive in Manning's room in Iraq. The file was created on November 30, 2009, and gave the contact detail in Iceland for WikiLeaks. He said he also recovered 14–15 pages of encrypted chats, in unallocated space on Manning's MacBook's hard drive, between Manning and someone believed to be Julian Assange, using the ] instant messaging client. The MacBook's log-in password was found to be the encryption key. Two of the chat handles, which used the Berlin ]'s domain (ccc.de), had names associated with them, Julian Assange and Nathaniel Frank. Johnson also said he found ] logs on the MacBook that showed an ], from an IP address that resolved to Manning's aunt's home, to a Swedish IP address with links to WikiLeaks.<ref name=hearing/> There was also a text file named "]" attached to the logs, apparently written by Manning:


<blockquote>Items of historical significance of two wars Iraq and Afghanistan Significant Activity, Sigacts, between 00001 January 2004 and 2359 31 December 2009 extracts from CSV documents from Department of Defense and CDNE database. These items have already been sanitized of any source identifying information.<p> {{quote|Items of historical significance of two wars Iraq and Afghanistan Significant Activity, Sigacts, between 00001 January 2004 and 2359 31 December 2009 extracts from CSV documents from Department of Defense and CDNE database. These items have already been sanitized of any source identifying information.


You might need to sit on this information for 90 to 180 days to figure out how best to send and distribute such a large amount of data to a large audience and protect the source.<p> You might need to sit on this information for 90 to 180 days to figure out how best to send and distribute such a large amount of data to a large audience and protect the source.


This is possibly one of the most significant documents of our time, removing the fog of war and revealing the true nature of 21st century assymmetric warfare.<p> This is possibly one of the most significant documents of our time, removing the fog of war and revealing the true nature of 21st century assymmetric warfare.


Have a good day.<ref name=Nicks137>Nicks 2012, pp. 137–138; also see .</ref></blockquote> Have a good day.<ref name=Nicks137>Nicks 2012, pp. 137–138; also see .</ref>}}


Johnson said there had been two attempts to delete material from the MacBook. The operating system was re-installed in January 2010, and on or around January 31 an attempt was made to erase the hard drive by doing a "]," which involves overwriting material with zeroes. This process was started, cancelled, then started again with a single pass. The material was recovered after the overwrite attempts from unallocated space.<ref name=hearing>The army investigators' testimony </ref> Johnson said there had been two attempts to delete material from the MacBook. The operating system was re-installed in January 2010, and on or around January 31 an attempt was made to erase the hard drive by doing a "]," which involves overwriting material with zeroes. This process was started, cancelled, then started again with a single pass. The material was recovered after the overwrite attempts from unallocated space.<ref name=hearing>The army investigators' testimony </ref>


====Defense arguments==== ====Defense arguments====
] in September 2009]] ]
The defense named 48 people it wanted to appear on Manning's behalf. The list was believed to include President ] and Secretary of State ]. Clinton had said that the diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks "did not represent significant consequences to foreign policy."<ref>{{cite web|author=Ed Pilkington |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/dec/05/bradley-manning-wikileaks-fragile-mind |title=Bradley Manning team to highlight WikiLeaks suspect's fragile mental state &#124; World news |date=December 5, 2011 |publisher=theguardian.com |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref> Obama was named because of an April 2011 statement<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42770631/ns/us_news-security/t/did-obama-taint-wikileaks-suspects-right-fair-trial/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130802010339/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42770631/ns/us_news-security/t/did-obama-taint-wikileaks-suspects-right-fair-trial/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 2, 2013|title=Did Obama taint Manning's right to fair trial? – US news – Security |publisher=NBC News |date=2011-04-26 |access-date=2013-08-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2011/04/22/video-of-obama-on-bradley-manning-he-broke-the-law/ |title=Video Of Obama On Bradley Manning: "He Broke The Law" |work=Forbes |date= April 22, 2011|access-date=2013-08-02 |first=Andy |last=Greenberg}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Stephanie Condon |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20056566-503544.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425021800/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20056566-503544.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 25, 2011 |title=Obama says Bradley Manning "broke the law" – Political Hotsheet |publisher=CBS News |date=2011-04-22 |access-date=2013-08-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Greenwald |first=Glenn |author-link=Glenn Greenwald |url=http://www.salon.com/2011/04/23/manning_10/ |title=President Obama speaks on Manning and the rule of law |work=Salon.com |date=2011-04-23 |access-date=2013-08-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53601.html |title=Barack Obama on Bradley Manning: 'He broke the law' – MJ Lee and Abby Phillip |publisher=Politico.Com |access-date=2013-08-02}}</ref> that Manning "broke the law":<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_zC44SBaZPoNDBjZmNiYWItNDk0YS00MmNjLTllZDAtMjVlZTYwOTRjOGE3 |title=Defense Article 32 Witness List.pdf – Google Drive |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref>
Manning's lawyers argued that the government had overstated the harm the release of the documents had caused, and had overcharged Manning to force him to give evidence against Assange. They suggested that other people had had access to Manning's workplace computer, and under cross-examination Shaver acknowledged that some of the 10,000 cables on Manning's personal computer did not match cables published by WikiLeaks. David Coombs asked for the dismissal of any charge related to the use of unauthorized software, arguing that Manning's unit had been "lawless ... when it comes to information assurance."


{{quote|The defense requests the presence of in order to discuss the issue of Unlawful Command Influence (UCI). Under Rule for Courts-Martial 405(e), the defense is entitled to explore the issue of UCI. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), a superior officer in the chain of command is prohibited from saying or doing anything that could influence any decision by a subordinate in how to handle a military justice matter.}}
The defense also raised the issue of whether Manning's ] had affected his judgment. Manning had e-mailed his master sergeant, Paul Adkins, in April 2010 to say he was suffering from gender confusion and attaching a photograph of himself dressed as a woman. After Manning's arrest, the army found information about ] in his room, and his commander, Captain Steven Lim, learned that he had been calling himself Breanna. His lawyers argued that his superiors had failed to provide adequate counseling, and had not taken disciplinary action or revoked his security clearance, and suggested that the "]" policy – which was repealed in September 2011 – had made it difficult for Manning to serve in the army as a gay man.<ref>For the prosecution argument about Manning's "absolute indifference," and for the defense argument about Manning's unit being "lawless," see Serena Marshall, , ABC News, December 22, 2011.

* For the government overcharging Manning, see Kim Zetter, , ''Wired'', December 22, 2011.
Obama's statement was later echoed by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General ], who said "We're a nation of laws. He did violate the law."<ref>{{cite web|last=Cole |first=William |url=http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/dempsey-us-preparing-military-options-if-needed-for-syria-1.171202 |title=Dempsey: US 'preparing military options' if needed for Syria – Pacific |work=Stripes |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref>
* For the gender issues, see Kirit Radia and Luis Martinez, , ABC News, December 17, 2011.

Manning's lawyers argued that the government had overstated the harm the release of the documents had caused, and had overcharged Manning in order to obtain evidence against Assange. They suggested that other people had had access to Manning's workplace computer, and under cross-examination Shaver acknowledged that some of the 10,000 cables on Manning's personal computer did not match cables published by WikiLeaks. Coombs asked for the dismissal of any charge related to the use of unauthorized software, arguing that Manning's unit had been "lawless ... when it comes to information assurance."

The defense also raised the issue of whether Manning's ] had affected Manning's judgment. Manning had e-mailed master sergeant, Paul Adkins, in April 2010 to say she was suffering from gender confusion and, despite then living as a man, attaching a photograph of herself dressed as a woman. After Manning's arrest, the army found information about ] in her room, and Manning's commander, Captain Steven Lim, learned that she had been calling herself Breanna. Defense lawyers argued that the superiors had failed to provide adequate counseling, and had not taken disciplinary action or revoked Manning's security clearance. They also suggested that the "]" policy—which was repealed in September 2011—had made it difficult for Manning to serve in the army as a gay man.<ref>For the prosecution argument about Manning's "absolute indifference," and for the defense argument about Manning's unit being "lawless," see Serena Marshall, , ABC News, December 22, 2011.
* For the government overcharging Manning, see Kim Zetter, , ''Wired'', December 22, 2011.
* For the gender issues, see Kirit Radia and Luis Martinez, , ABC News, December 17, 2011.
* For Manning facing court martial, see Denver Nicks, , ''The Daily Beast'', January 13, 2012.</ref> * For Manning facing court martial, see Denver Nicks, , ''The Daily Beast'', January 13, 2012.</ref>


===Defense request to depose six witnesses=== ===Defense request to depose six witnesses===
After the hearing, in January 2012, David Coombs filed a request to depose six witnesses, whose names were redacted in the application, and who are believed to have been involved in classifying the leaked videos. Coombs argues that the videos were not classified at the time they were obtained by WikiLeaks.<ref>David Coombs, , ''United States v. PFC Bradley Manning'', January 12, 2012. After the hearing, in January 2012, Coombs filed a request to depose six witnesses, whose names were redacted in the application, and who are believed to have been involved in classifying the leaked videos. Coombs argues that the videos were not classified at the time they were obtained by WikiLeaks.<ref>David Coombs, , ''United States v. PFC Bradley Manning'', January 12, 2012.
* Kim Zetter, , ''Wired'', January 12, 2012.</ref> * Kim Zetter, , ''Wired'', January 12, 2012.</ref>


===Article 39 hearing=== ===Article 39 hearing===
An Article 39<ref>{{USCSec|10|839}}</ref> ] was convened on April 24, 2012, during which the judge, Colonel Denise Lind, denied a defense motion to dismiss the charge of aiding the enemy, and ruled that the government must be able to show that Manning knew the enemy would be able to access information on the WikiLeaks site. She ordered the CIA, FBI, DIA, State Department, and Department of Justice to release documents showing their assessment of whether the leaked material had damaged the national interest of the United States. Lind said she would decide after reading the documents whether to make them available to Manning's lawyers. She also ordered forensic imaging of five computers removed from Manning's work station that had not yet been wiped clean.<ref name=Article39April>, ABC News, April 24, 2012. An Article 39<ref>{{USCSec|10|839}}</ref> ] was convened on April 24, 2012, during which the judge, Colonel Denise Lind, denied a defense motion to dismiss the charge of aiding the enemy, and ruled that the government must be able to show that Manning knew the enemy would be able to access information on the WikiLeaks site. She ordered the CIA, FBI, DIA, State Department, and ] to release documents showing their assessment of whether the leaked material had damaged the national interest of the United States. Lind said she would decide after reading the documents whether to make them available to Manning's lawyers. She also ordered forensic imaging of five computers removed from Manning's work station that had not yet been wiped clean.<ref name=Article39April>, ABC News, April 24, 2012.
* , ABC News, April 25, 2012. * , ABC News, April 25, 2012.
* , ABC News, April 26, 2012.</ref> * , ABC News, April 26, 2012.</ref>


At the start of the hearing, Manning replaced his two military lawyers, Major Matthew Kemkes and Captain Paul Bouchard, with Captain Joshua Tooman. The next Article 39 hearing was set for June 6–8 and trial was set for September 2012.<ref name=Article39April/> At the start of the hearing, Manning replaced the assigned two military defense lawyers, Major Matthew Kemkes and Captain Paul Bouchard, with Captain Joshua Tooman. The next Article 39 hearing was set for June 6–8 and trial was set for September 2012.<ref name=Article39April/>


===Petition to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals=== ===Petition to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals===
The ] filed a petition in May 2012 asking the ] to order press and public access to motion papers, orders, and transcripts. Petitioners included ], ] of ''Democracy Now!'', Chase Madar, author of ''The Passion of Bradley Manning'' (2011), and ] of ''Salon''.<ref>David Dishneau, , Associated Press, 24 May 2012. The ] filed a petition in May 2012 asking the ] to order press and public access to motion papers, orders, and transcripts. Petitioners included ], ] of ''Democracy Now!'', Chase Madar, author of ''The Passion of Bradley Manning'' (2011), and ] of ''Salon''.<ref>David Dishneau, , Associated Press, May 24, 2012.
* , ''Eurasia Review'', 24 May 2012.</ref> * , ''Eurasia Review'', May 24, 2012.</ref>


===Motion to dismiss=== ===Motion to dismiss===
On September 19, 2012, Manning's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss all charges with ], arguing that Manning has been unable to obtain a ].<ref name=m2d4loast> of September 19, 2012 as cited in Nathan Fuller (September 29, 2012) ''BradleyManning.org''</ref> The motion claimed that the 845 days he has spent in pretrial confinement is much longer than periods that the Court of Appeals have found to be ] unreasonable.<ref name=KlasfeldDelays>Adam Klasfeld, ''Courthouse News Service'', October 1, 2012.</ref> The U.S. military requires a trial within 120 days.<ref name=KlasfeldSecrecy>Adam Klasfeld, ''Courthouse News Service'', October 10, 2012.</ref> Judge Lind ruled against the defense's motion and for the law allows for a delay past 120 days in this case because the prosecution needed more time to prepare its case.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ed Pilkington at Fort Meade, Maryland |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/26/bradley-manning-trial-rejects-dismiss-charges?INTCMP=SRCH |title=Bradley Manning judge rules length of soldier's detention 'reasonable' &#124; World news |publisher=theguardian.com |date= |accessdate=2013-07-30}}</ref> On September 19, 2012, Manning's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss all charges with ], arguing that Manning had been unable to obtain a ].<ref name=m2d4loast> of September 19, 2012 as cited in Nathan Fuller (September 29, 2012) ''BradleyManning.org''</ref> The motion said that the 845 days spent in pretrial confinement was longer than the periods that the law says is unreasonable<ref name=KlasfeldDelays>], ''Courthouse News Service'', October 1, 2012.</ref> (United States military law normally requires a trial within 120 days<ref name=KlasfeldSecrecy>Adam Klasfeld, ''Courthouse News Service'', October 10, 2012.</ref>). Judge Lind ruled against the defense motion and allowed for the delay because the prosecution needed more time to prepare its case.<ref>{{cite news|author=Ed Pilkington at Fort Meade, Maryland |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/26/bradley-manning-trial-rejects-dismiss-charges?INTCMP=SRCH |title=Bradley Manning judge rules length of soldier's detention 'reasonable' &#124; World news |publisher=theguardian.com |date= February 26, 2013|access-date=July 30, 2013 |location=London}}</ref>


===Initial plea=== ===Initial plea===
]
On February 28, 2013, Manning pleaded guilty to 10 of the 22 specified charges. Military judge Colonel Denise Lind accepted the guilty pleas, for which Manning could face up to 20 years in prison. Manning did not plead guilty to the most significant charge against him, aiding the enemy.<ref>, BBC News, 28 February 2013.</ref> On February 28, 2013, Manning pleaded guilty to 10 of the 22 specified charges. Military judge Colonel Denise Lind accepted the guilty pleas, for which Manning could face up to 20 years in prison. Manning did not plead guilty to the most significant charge of aiding the enemy.<ref>, BBC News, February 28, 2013.</ref>


Manning acknowledged having provided archives of military and diplomatic files to WikiLeaks. He pleaded guilty to 10 criminal counts in connection with the material he leaked, which included videos of airstrikes in Iraq and Afghanistan in which civilians were killed, logs of military incident reports, assessment files of detainees held at ], and a quarter-million cables from American diplomats stationed around the world. He read a statement recounting how he joined the military, became an intelligence analyst in Iraq, decided that certain files should become known to the American public to prompt a wider debate about foreign policy, downloaded them from a secure computer network and then ultimately uploaded them to WikiLeaks.<ref name="Confession to 10 crimes Manning">{{cite news|author=Charlie Savage and Scott Shane|title=Soldier Admits Providing Files To WikiLeaks|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1 March 2013|page= A1}}</ref> Manning acknowledged having provided archives of military and diplomatic files to WikiLeaks. She pleaded guilty to 10 criminal counts in connection with the material leaked, which included videos of airstrikes in Iraq and Afghanistan in which civilians were killed, logs of military incident reports, assessment files of detainees held at ], Cuba, and a quarter-million cables from American diplomats stationed around the world. Manning read a statement recounting how she joined the military, became an intelligence analyst in Iraq, decided that certain files should become known to the American public to prompt a wider debate about foreign policy, downloaded them from a secure computer network and then ultimately uploaded them to WikiLeaks.<ref name="Confession to 10 crimes Manning">{{cite news | author = ], ] | title = Soldier Admits Providing Files To WikiLeaks | newspaper = ] | date = March 1, 2013 | page = A1 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/us/bradley-manning-admits-giving-trove-of-military-data-to-wikileaks.html }}</ref>


When the judge asked Manning to explain how he could admit that his actions were wrong, Manning replied, "Your Honor, regardless of my opinion or my assessment of documents such as these, it's beyond my pay grade – it's not my authority to make these decisions about releasing confidential files."<ref name="Confession to 10 crimes Manning" /> An audio recording of Manning's statement was released by journalist ] on March 12, 2013.<ref>Glenn Greenwald, , ''The Guardian'', March 12, 2013.</ref> When the judge asked Manning to explain how she could admit that her actions were wrong, Manning replied, "Your Honor, regardless of my opinion or my assessment of documents such as these, it's beyond my pay grade—it's not my authority to make these decisions about releasing confidential files."<ref name="Confession to 10 crimes Manning"/> An audio recording of Manning's statement was released by journalist ] on March 12, 2013.<ref>Glenn Greenwald, , ''The Guardian'', March 12, 2013.</ref>


Manning put the files on a digital storage card for his camera and took it home with him on a leave in early 2010. He then decided to give the files to a newspaper. He first called ''The Washington Post'', but the reporter was not interested. Then he tried to contact ''The New York Times'' by calling a phone number for the newspaper's public editor and leaving a voice mail message that was not returned. In January 2010, he called the public editor's line at ] but got no response. Later, he copied the files and uploaded them to WikiLeaks, through its website, and later used a directory the group designated for him on a "cloud drop box" server. Manning was frustrated that WikiLeaks did not publish files about 15 people who printed "anti-Iraqi" pamphlets. After uploading the files, he was increasingly engaged in online conversations with someone from WikiLeaks, who Manning said he assumed was a senior figure, like ], its founder, but, in retrospect, he said the relationship was "artificial."<ref name="Confession to 10 crimes Manning" /> Manning put the files on a camera digital storage card and took it home on a leave in early 2010. Manning then decided to give the files to a newspaper, first calling ''The Washington Post''. Next, ''The New York Times'' was contacted and an unanswered voice mail message was left. In January 2010, Manning called the public editor's line at ], but got no response. Manning then copied the files and uploaded them to WikiLeaks, through its website, using a directory the group designated as a "cloud drop box" server. Manning was frustrated that WikiLeaks did not publish files about 15 people who printed "anti-Iraqi" pamphlets. After uploading the files, Manning was engaged in more online conversations with someone from WikiLeaks, who Manning thought was a senior figure, like ]. In retrospect, Manning described the relationship as "artificial."<ref name="Confession to 10 crimes Manning"/>


==Trial== ==Trial==
The trial began on June 3, 2013, at ], Maryland, before Colonel Denise Lind, chief judge, U.S. Army Trial Judiciary, 1st Judicial Circuit.<ref>, last updated September 24, 2012, retrieved July 23, 2013.</ref> The trial began on June 3, 2013, at ], Maryland, before Colonel Denise Lind, chief judge, U.S. Army Trial Judiciary, 1st Judicial Circuit.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217211327/https://www.jagcnet.army.mil/85257345005031B1/(JAGCNetDocID)/1st+Judicial+Circuit?OpenDocument |date=February 17, 2013 }}, last updated September 24, 2012, retrieved July 23, 2013.</ref>


Opening for the prosecution, Capt. Joe Morrow accused Manning of having "harvested" hundreds of thousands of documents from secure networks, then making them available within hours to his country's enemies by dumping them on the Internet: "This is a case about what happens when arrogance meets access to classified information," he said.<ref name=McGeoughJune42013>Paul McGeough, , ''Sydney Morning Herald'', June 4, 2013.</ref> For the defense, David Coombs described Manning as "young, naïve and good intentioned." Coombs recounted an incident in which a convoy was hit by an ], which U.S. troops were relieved did not result in any American fatalities. Manning was reportedly disturbed by his comrades' lack of sympathy upon later learning that an Iraqi civilian had been killed in the incident. Coombs said that by releasing material he felt the public should see, Manning had hoped to make a difference. Manning additionally believed that much of the information he released was "already basically in the public domain," and that it was of historical importance.<ref name=TateJune32013/> Opening for the prosecution, Captain Joe Morrow accused Manning of having "harvested" hundreds of thousands of documents from secure networks, then making them available within hours to the US's enemies by dumping them on the Internet: "This is a case about what happens when arrogance meets access to classified information," he said.<ref name=McGeoughJune42013>Paul McGeough, , ''Sydney Morning Herald'', June 4, 2013.</ref> For the defense, Coombs described Manning as "young, naïve and good intentioned." Coombs recounted an incident in which a convoy was hit by an ], which U.S. troops were relieved did not result in any American fatalities. Manning was reportedly disturbed by her comrades' lack of sympathy upon later learning that an Iraqi civilian had been killed in the incident. Coombs said that by releasing material she felt the public should see, Manning had hoped to make a difference. Manning additionally believed that much of the information she released was "already basically in the public domain," and that it was of historical importance.<ref name=TateJune32013/>


On July 2, at the trial's 14th day of sessions, prosecutors rested their case, having presented testimony from 80 witnesses and evidence showing that Manning's training repeatedly instructed him to not give classified information to unauthorized people. The government also presented evidence that ] asked for and received from an associate the Afghanistan battlefield reports WikiLeaks published,<ref>David Dishneau & Pauline Jelinek, , Associated Press, July 2, 2013.</ref> and that al-Qaeda leaders reveled in WikiLeaks' publication of reams of classified U.S. documents, urging members to study them before devising ways to attack the United States.<ref>{{Cite news | first= | last=Associated Press | title=Prosecution submits al-Qaida excerpts in Wikileaks trial | url=http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/Prosecution-Wrapping-up-in-WikiLeaks-Trial-213901581.html| work= | newspaper=] | location=] | pages= 5A | date=July 2, 2013 | id= | accessdate=July 2, 2013}}</ref><!---hard copy and soft copy sources are different but are the same article---> On July 2, at the trial's 14th day of sessions, prosecutors rested their case, having presented testimony from 80 witnesses and evidence showing that Manning's training repeatedly instructed her to not give classified information to unauthorized people. The government also presented evidence that ] asked for and received from an associate the Afghanistan battlefield reports WikiLeaks published,<ref>David Dishneau & Pauline Jelinek, , Associated Press, July 2, 2013.</ref> and that al-Qaeda leaders reveled in WikiLeaks' publication of reams of classified U.S. documents, urging members to study them before devising ways to attack the United States.<ref>{{Cite news | last=Associated Press | title=Prosecution submits al-Qaida excerpts in Wikileaks trial | url=http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/Prosecution-Wrapping-up-in-WikiLeaks-Trial-213901581.html| newspaper=] | location=] | pages= 5A | date=July 2, 2013 | access-date=July 2, 2013}}</ref><!---hard copy and soft copy sources are different but are the same article--->


On July 10, the defense rested its case after presenting evidence from 10 witnesses. PFC Manning did not take the stand. Attempting to undercut the most serious charge against Manning—aiding the enemy—defense lawyers called ] professor ], who testified that until WikiLeaks started publishing the material Manning leaked, even ] apparently viewed the anti-secrecy website as a legitimate journalistic enterprise. Thereafter, said Benkler, the public, the military and traditional news media perceived WikiLeaks as a group that supported terrorism.<ref>Associated Press, , ''Los Angeles Times'', July 10, 2013.</ref> On July 10, the defense rested its case after presenting evidence from 10 witnesses. Manning did not take the stand. Attempting to undercut the most serious charge against Manning—aiding the enemy—defense lawyers called ] professor ], who testified that until WikiLeaks started publishing the material Manning leaked, even ] apparently viewed the anti-secrecy website as a legitimate journalistic enterprise. Thereafter, said Benkler, the public, the military and traditional news media perceived WikiLeaks as a group that supported terrorism.<ref>Associated Press, , ''Los Angeles Times'', July 10, 2013.</ref>


On July 18, Judge Lind rejected a defense motion to dismiss the charge of aiding the enemy, citing Manning's extensive training as an intelligence analyst and the sheer volume of records that were leaked as reasons to allow the charge to proceed. In its rebuttal case, the prosecution entered three tweets from WikiLeaks that Manning may have viewed to show that the organization was not a legitimate journalistic enterprise. In surrebuttal, the defense entered articles into evidence depicting WikiLeaks as an important journalism outlet, a platform "just as important as" the ].<ref>Julie Tate, , ''The Washington Post'', July 18, 2013.</ref> On July 18, Judge Lind rejected a defense motion to dismiss the charge of aiding the enemy, citing Manning's extensive training as an intelligence analyst and the sheer volume of records that were leaked as reasons to allow the charge to proceed. In its rebuttal case, the prosecution entered three tweets from WikiLeaks that Manning may have viewed to show that the organization was not a legitimate journalistic enterprise. In surrebuttal, the defense entered articles into evidence depicting WikiLeaks as an important journalism outlet, a platform "just as important as" the ].<ref>Julie Tate, , ''The Washington Post'', July 18, 2013.</ref>


On July 25, chief prosecutor Maj. Ashden Fein delivered the government's closing argument, portraying PFC Manning as an "anarchist" who sought to "make a splash" by providing vast archives of secret documents to WikiLeaks. Arguing that Manning must be found guilty of aiding the enemy, Fein said, "He was not a whistleblower. He was a traitor, a traitor who understood the value of compromised information in the hands of the enemy and took deliberate steps to ensure that they, along with the world, received it." Fein contended that Manning's "wholesale and indiscriminate compromise of hundreds of thousands of classified documents" for release by the WikiLeaks staff, whom he called "essentially information anarchists," was not an ordinary journalistic disclosure but a bid for "notoriety, although in a clandestine form." Fein addressed the court for nearly six hours.<ref>Charlie Savage, , ''The New York Times'', July 25, 2013.</ref> On July 25, chief prosecutor Maj. Ashden Fein delivered the government's closing argument, portraying Manning as an "anarchist" who sought to "make a splash" by providing vast archives of secret documents to WikiLeaks. Arguing that Manning must be found guilty of aiding the enemy, Fein said, "He was not a whistleblower. He was a traitor, a traitor who understood the value of compromised information in the hands of the enemy and took deliberate steps to ensure that they, along with the world, received it." Fein contended that Manning's "wholesale and indiscriminate compromise of hundreds of thousands of classified documents" for release by the WikiLeaks staff, whom he called "essentially information anarchists," was not an ordinary journalistic disclosure but a bid for "notoriety, although in a clandestine form." Fein addressed the court for nearly six hours.<ref name=NYTimes2013-07-25/>


The next day, lead defense attorney David Coombs countered with his own closing argument, portraying Manning as "a young, naïve, but good-intentioned soldier who had human life and his humanist beliefs center to his decisions, whose sole focus was, 'Maybe I just can make a difference, maybe make a change.'" Coombs said his client released only files he believed would cause no harm yet spark debate and prompt change, and that if PFC Manning had not been selective, he would have leaked much more. Playing excerpts from the Baghdad helicopter attack ("Collateral Murder") video that Manning admitted supplying to WikiLeaks, Coombs told Judge Lind: "When the court looks at this, the defense requests that you not disengage, that you not look at this from the eyes of 'this happened on a battlefield.' Did they all deserve to die? That is what Private Manning is thinking as he is watching this video he is seeing, and he's questioning."<ref>Charlie Savage, , ''The New York Times'', July 26, 2013.</ref> The next day, defense attorney Coombs countered with his own closing argument, portraying Manning as "a young, naïve, but good-intentioned soldier who had human life and his humanist beliefs center to his decisions, whose sole focus was, 'Maybe I just can make a difference, maybe make a change.{{' "}} Coombs said his client released only files she believed would cause no harm yet spark debate and prompt change, and that if Manning had not been selective, she would have leaked much more. Playing excerpts from the Baghdad helicopter attack ("Collateral Murder") video that Manning admitted supplying to WikiLeaks, Coombs told Judge Lind: "When the court looks at this, the defense requests that you not disengage, that you not look at this from the eyes of 'this happened on a battlefield.' Did they all deserve to die? That is what Private Manning is thinking as he is watching this video he is seeing, and he's questioning."<ref name=NYTimes2013-07-27b/>


With closing arguments concluded, Col. Lind began her deliberations. Manning chose to have his court-martial heard by the judge only instead of a jury.<ref>David Dishneau, , Associated Press, June 3, 2013.</ref> With closing arguments concluded, Col. Lind began her deliberations. Manning chose to have her court-martial heard by the judge only instead of a jury.<ref>David Dishneau, , Associated Press, June 3, 2013.</ref>


==Findings== ==Findings==
On July 30, 2013, Judge Lind issued her findings regarding the charges. Manning was acquitted of aiding the enemy by knowingly giving out intelligence through indirect means and convicted of 19 of the 21 or 22 specified charges, including theft and six counts of espionage.<ref name="nytimes" /><ref name="cbsnews" /><ref name="nydailynews" /> The hearing on sentencing began on July 31, 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wikileaker PFC. Bradly Manning Found not Guilty of Most Serious Charge of Aiding the Enemy|url=http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/30/wikileaker-pfc-bradly-manning-found-not-guilty-of-most-serious-charge-of-aiding-the-enemy/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=Share%20Buttons|publisher=The Blaze|accessdate=30 July 2013}}</ref> He initially faced a maximum sentence of as much as 136 years' imprisonment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rt.com/usa/manning-not-guilty-aiding-enemy-805/|quote= found guilty of 20 remaining charges, meaning that he still faces the possibility of up to 136 years behind bars.|publisher=Russia Today|date=2013-07-30|title=Manning not guilty of aiding the enemy, faces 130+ yrs in jail on other charges}}</ref><ref name="atlanticverdict"/><ref name="epochverdict"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Edpilkington/status/362259148127223808 |title=Twitter / Edpilkington: #manning not guilty if aiding |publisher=Twitter.com |date= |accessdate=2013-07-30}}</ref> This was subsequently reduced to 90 years after the defense successfully filed a motion to merge some of the 20 counts that Manning was being charged with on the grounds that they overlapped. <ref>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/06/bradley-manning-sentence-reduced-90-years</ref> On July 30, 2013, Judge Lind issued her findings regarding the charges. Manning was acquitted of aiding the enemy by knowingly giving out intelligence through indirect means, and was convicted of 19 of the 21 or 22 specified charges, including theft and six counts of espionage.<ref name="nydailynews"/><ref name=NYTimes2013-07-31/><ref name="cbsnews"/> The hearing on sentencing began on July 31, 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/07/31/207229932/manning-could-face-decades-in-prison-hearing-starts-today|publisher=NPR|date=July 31, 2013|title=As Sentencing Phase Begins, Manning Could Face Decades In Prison|author=Bill Chappell}}</ref> The maximum sentence that Manning could have faced was 136 years' imprisonment.<ref name="atlanticverdict"/> This was subsequently reduced to 90 years after the military court granted the defense's motion to merge some of the 20 counts that Manning was being charged with on the grounds that they overlapped.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pilkington|first=Ed|title=Bradley Manning's maximum sentence reduced to a possible 90 years|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/06/bradley-manning-sentence-reduced-90-years|newspaper=The Guardian|date=August 6, 2013}}</ref>


==Sentencing== ==Sentencing==
The judge ruled in January 2013 that Manning's sentence would be reduced by 112 days because of his treatment at Quantico.<ref>Tate, Julie and Nakashima, Ellen. , ''The Washington Post'', 8 January 2013.</ref> The sentencing phase of the trial began on July 31.<ref name=verdict>Tate, Julie and Londono, Ernesto. , ''The Washington Post'', 30 July 2013. The judge ruled in January 2013 that Manning's sentence would be reduced by 112 days because of treatment during confinement at Quantico.<ref>Tate, Julie and Nakashima, Ellen. , ''The Washington Post'', January 8, 2013.</ref> The sentencing phase of the trial began on July 31.<ref name=verdict>Tate, Julie and Londono, Ernesto. , ''The Washington Post'', July 30, 2013.
* Londono, Ernesto; Rolfe, Rebecca; and Tate, Julie. , ''The Washington Post'', 30 July 2013. * Londono, Ernesto; Rolfe, Rebecca; and Tate, Julie. , ''The Washington Post'', July 30, 2013.
*Savage, Charlie. , ''The New York Times'', 30 July 2013. * ]. , '']'', July 30, 2013.
*Pilkington, Ed. , ''The Guardian'', 31 July 2013: "the soldier was found guilty in their entirety of 17 out of the 22 counts against him, and of an amended version of four others."</ref> A military psychologist who had treated Manning, Capt. Michael Worsley, testified on his behalf that he had been left isolated in the army, trying to deal with gender-identity issues in a "hyper-masculine environment." On August 14 during his sentencing hearing, Manning apologized for his actions, telling the court: "I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that they hurt the United States. I am sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions. When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people. ... At the time of my decisions I was dealing with a lot of issues."<ref>Kube, Courtney; DeLuca, Matthew; McClam, Erin. , NBC News, 14 August 2013. * Pilkington, Ed. , ''The Guardian'', July 31, 2013: "the soldier was found guilty in their entirety of 17 out of the 22 counts against him, and of an amended version of four others."</ref> A military psychologist who had treated Manning, Capt. Michael Worsley, testified that Manning had been left isolated in the army, trying to deal with gender-identity issues in a "hyper-masculine environment." On August 14 during the sentencing hearing, Manning apologized for past actions, telling the court: "I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that they hurt the United States. I am sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions. When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people. ... At the time of my decisions I was dealing with a lot of issues."<ref>Kube, Courtney; DeLuca, Matthew; McClam, Erin. , NBC News, August 14, 2013.
* Courson, Paul. , CNN, 14 August 2013.</ref> On August 21, 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison and given a ]. His rank was reduced and he will forfeit all pay and benefits. He will be given credit of 1,293 days served, and may be eligible for parole after serving one-third of his sentence.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/21/us/bradley-manning-sentencing/index.html|publisher=CNN|accessdate=21 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bradley Manning gets 35 years in prison for giving US secrets to WikiLeaks|url=http://www.wftv.com/ap/ap/manning-faces-sentencing-for-wikileaks-disclosures/nZT2H/|publisher=WFTV TV|accessdate=21 August 2013}}</ref> * Courson, Paul. , CNN, August 14, 2013.</ref> On August 21, 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Manning was given credit of 1,293 days (3 years and 6 months) served in pre-trial confinement, and may be eligible for parole after serving one-third of the sentence. Manning was also reduced to the lowest enlisted pay grade (]), forfeited all pay and allowances, and given a ].<ref>{{cite news|title=Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/21/us/bradley-manning-sentencing/index.html|publisher=CNN|access-date=August 21, 2013|date=August 22, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bradley Manning gets 35 years in prison for giving US secrets to WikiLeaks|url=http://www.wftv.com/ap/ap/manning-faces-sentencing-for-wikileaks-disclosures/nZT2H/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130821142812/http://www.wftv.com/ap/ap/manning-faces-sentencing-for-wikileaks-disclosures/nZT2H/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 21, 2013|publisher=WFTV TV|access-date=August 21, 2013}}</ref>

==Petition for commutation of sentence==
On September 3, 2013, Manning's attorney announced that he had filed on his client's behalf a Petition for Commutation of Sentence, submitted with a letter to the ] and, through the Department of Justice's ], to President Obama, seeking a presidential pardon.<ref>Simpson, Ian. , Reuters, September 4, 2013.</ref>

On January 17, 2017, President Obama commuted Manning's sentence to a total of seven years' confinement, starting with the initial date of arrest. As a result of the commutation Manning was released on May 17, 2017.<ref name="HillObamaCommutes"/><ref name="nyt-17jan2017"/>

==Appeal==
On May 31, 2018, the ] upheld Manning's 2013 court-martial conviction of violating the ]. The court rejected Manning's contention that the statute is too vague to provide fair notice of the criminal nature of disclosing classified documents. "The facts of this case," the three-judge panel ruled, "leave no question as to what constituted national defense information. Appellant's training and experience indicate, without any doubt, she was on notice and understood the nature of the information she was disclosing and how its disclosure could negatively affect national defense." The court also rejected Manning's assertion that her actions in disclosing classified information related to national security are protected by the First Amendment. Manning, the court found, "had no First Amendment right to make the disclosures—doing so not only violated the nondisclosure agreements she signed, but also jeopardized national security."<ref name=CourtOfCriminalAppeals/>


==See also== ==See also==
;Material alleged to have been leaked ;Material alleged to have been leaked
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]


;Miscellaneous ;Miscellaneous
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]


==Notes== ==Notes==
{{reflist|2}} {{Notelist}}
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=NYTimes2013-07-27b>
{{cite news
| title = Defense Calls Manning's Intentions Good
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/27/us/defense-calls-manning-naive-but-good-intentioned.html?hp&_r=0
| work = ]
| date = 2013-07-27
| author = ]
}}
</ref>
<ref name=NYTimes2013-07-31>
{{cite news
| title = Manning Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/us/bradley-manning-verdict.html
| work = ]
| access-date = July 30, 2013
| first = Charlie
| last = Savage
| author-link = Charlie Savage (author)
| date = July 30, 2013
}}
</ref>
<ref name=NYTimes2013-07-25>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/us/politics/closing-arguments-due-in-manning-leaks-case.html?hp&_r=0
| title = In Closing Argument, Prosecutor Casts Soldier as 'Anarchist' for Leaking Archives
| work = ]
| date = 2013-07-25
| author = ]
}}
</ref>
}}


==Further reading== ==Further reading==
{{External links|date=June 2017}}
;Articles ;Articles
* Carbone, Christopher. "" '']''. Tuesday July 30, 2013. * Carbone, Christopher. "" '']''. Tuesday July 30, 2013.
* Gabbatt, Adam. "." '']''. Tuesday July 30, 2013. * Gabbatt, Adam. "." '']''. Tuesday July 30, 2013.
* ]. , ''Salon'', June 18, 2010. * ]. , ''Salon'', June 18, 2010.
* Hansen, Evan. , ''Wired'' magazine, July 13, 2011; from the original on March 28, 2012. * Hansen, Evan. , ''Wired'' magazine, July 13, 2011; , ''Wired'' magazine, July 13, 2011; from the original on March 28, 2012.
* Nakashima, Ellen. , ''The Washington Post'', June 10, 2010. * Nakashima, Ellen. , ''The Washington Post'', June 10, 2010.
* Nicks, Denver. , ''This Land'', September 23, 2010. * ]. , ''This Land'', September 23, 2010.
* Pilkington, Ed. "." '']''/ Wednesday 10 July 2013. * Pilkington, Ed. "." '']''. Wednesday July 10, 2013.


;Books ;Books
* Madar, Chase. ''The Passion of Bradley Manning''. {{ISBN|978-1935928539}}. OR Books, 2012.
* ]; O'Hagan, Andrew. ''Julian Assange: The Unauthorised Autobiography''. Canongate, 2011.
* ]; ]. ''Truth and Consequences: The U.S. vs. Bradley Manning''. {{ISBN|978-0615621975}}. Sinclair Books, 2012.
* Brooke, Heather. ''The Revolution Will Be Digitised''. William Heinemann, 2011.
* ]. ''Inside WikiLeaks''. Doubleday, 2011.
* Fowler, Andrew. ''The Most Dangerous Man in the World''. Skyhorse Publishing, 2011.
* Leigh, David; Harding, Luke. ''WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy''. Guardian Books, 2011.
* Madar, Chase. ''The Passion of Bradley Manning''. OR Books, 2012.
* Mitchell, Greg; Gosztola, Kevin. ''Truth and Consequences: The U.S. vs. Bradley Manning''. Sinclair Books, 2012.


;Video ;Video
* Smith, Martin. , PBS ''Frontline'', March 2011. * ]. , PBS ''Frontline'', March 2011.


;Websites ;Websites
* , Bradley Manning's lawyer, accessed April 7, 2012. * , Bradley Manning's lawyer, accessed April 7, 2012.
* from the ] * from the ]
* , PBS ''Frontline'', December 22, 2011. * , PBS ''Frontline'', December 22, 2011.
* Associated Press, December 19, 2011 * Army investigators, including the reference to Eric Schmiedl, see David Dishneau and Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press, December 19, 2011
* , Agence France-Presse, December 20, 2011. * , Agence France-Presse, December 20, 2011.


{{WikiLeaks}} {{WikiLeaks}}
{{USA-Mil-Judicial}} {{U.S.-Mil-Judicial}}
{{US Army navbox}} {{US Army navbox}}


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Latest revision as of 18:32, 11 September 2024

2013 court-martial of U.S. Army officer Chelsea Manning for distributing classified info

United States v. Manning
CourtUnited States Army Military District of Washington
Full case name United States of America v. Manning, Bradley E., PFC
Case history
Prior actionsArticle 32 hearing, opened December 16, 2011
Formally charged, February 23, 2012
Article 39 (pre-trial) hearing, opened April 24, 2012
Court membership
Judge sittingColonel Denise Lind

United States v. Manning was the court-martial of former United States Army Private First Class, Chelsea Manning.

After serving in Iraq since October 2009, Manning was arrested in May 2010 after Adrian Lamo, a computer hacker in the United States, indirectly informed the Army's Criminal Investigation Command that Manning had acknowledged passing classified material to WikiLeaks. Manning was ultimately charged with 22 specified offenses, including communicating national defense information to an unauthorized source, and the most serious of the charges, aiding the enemy. Other charges included violations of the Espionage Act of 1917, stealing U.S. government property, charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and charges related to the failure to obey lawful general orders under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Manning entered guilty pleas to 10 of 22 specified offenses in February 2013.

The trial on the 12 remaining charges began on June 3, 2013. It went to the judge on July 26, 2013, and findings were rendered on July 30. Manning was acquitted of the most serious charge, that of aiding the enemy, for giving secrets to WikiLeaks. In addition to five or six espionage counts, Manning was also found guilty of five theft specifications, two computer fraud specifications and multiple military infractions.

On August 21, 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment, reduction in pay grade to E-1, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge. On January 17, 2017, President Barack Obama commuted Manning's sentence to a total of seven years' confinement. Manning was released on May 17, 2017. On May 31, 2018, the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Manning's conviction of violating the Espionage Act of 1917.

Background

Further information: List of charges in United States v. Manning

The material includes 251,287 United States diplomatic cables, over 400,000 classified army reports from the Iraq War (the Iraq War logs), and approximately 90,000 army reports from the war in Afghanistan (the Afghan War logs). WikiLeaks also received two videos. One was of the July 12, 2007, Baghdad airstrike (dubbed the "Collateral Murder" video); the second, which was never published, was of the May 2009 Granai airstrike in Afghanistan.

Manning was charged on July 5, 2010, with violations of Articles 92 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which were alleged to have taken place between November 19, 2009, and May 27, 2010. These were replaced on March 1, 2011, with 22 specifications, including aiding the enemy, wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the Internet knowing that it was accessible to the enemy, theft of public property or records, and transmitting defense information. Manning was found not guilty of aiding the enemy, the most serious charge, for which Manning could have faced the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Pre-trial hearings

Article 32 hearing

photograph
Manning was represented by David Coombs.

A panel of experts ruled in April 2011 that Manning was fit to stand trial. An Article 32 hearing, presided over by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Almanza, was convened on December 16, 2011, at Fort Meade, Maryland, to determine whether to proceed to a court martial. The army was represented by Captains Ashden Fein, Joe Morrow, and Angel Overgaard. Manning was represented by military attorneys Major Matthew Kemkes and Captain Paul Bouchard, and by civilian attorney David Coombs.

The hearing resulted in Almanza recommending that Manning be referred to a general court-martial, and on February 3, 2012, the convening authority, Major General Michael Linnington, commander of the Military District of Washington, ordered Manning to stand trial on all 22 specified charges, including aiding the enemy. Manning was arraigned on February 23, and declined to enter a plea.

Prosecution evidence

The lead prosecutor, Captain Fein, argued that Manning had given enemies "unfettered access" to the material and had displayed an "absolute indifference" to classified information. He showed the court a video of Adam Gadahn, an al-Qaeda spokesman, referencing the leaked material.

The prosecution presented 300,000 pages of documents in evidence, including chat logs and classified material. Nicks writes that Manning appeared to have taken few security precautions. After Manning's arrest, detectives searched a basement room in Potomac, Maryland, and found an SD card they say contained the Afghan and Iraq War logs, along with a message to WikiLeaks. Investigators said Manning had also left computer trails of Google and Intelink searches, and of using Wget to download documents.

Lieutenant Colonel Almanza heard from two army investigators, Special Agent David Shaver, head of the digital forensics and research branch of the army's Computer Crime Investigative Unit (CCIU), and Mark Johnson, a digital forensics contractor from ManTech International, who works for the CCIU. They testified that they had found 100,000 State Department cables on a computer Manning had used between November 2009 and May 2010; 400,000 U.S. military reports from Iraq and 91,000 from Afghanistan on the SD card; and 10,000 cables on a personal MacBook Pro and storage devices that they said had not been passed to WikiLeaks because a file was corrupted. They also said they had recovered an exchange from May 2010 between Manning and Eric Schmiedl, a Boston mathematician, in which Manning had admitted to being the source of the Baghdad helicopter attack ("Collateral Murder") video.

Johnson said he found a text file called wl-press.txt on an external hard drive in Manning's room in Iraq. The file was created on November 30, 2009, and gave the contact detail in Iceland for WikiLeaks. He said he also recovered 14–15 pages of encrypted chats, in unallocated space on Manning's MacBook's hard drive, between Manning and someone believed to be Julian Assange, using the Adium instant messaging client. The MacBook's log-in password was found to be the encryption key. Two of the chat handles, which used the Berlin Chaos Computer Club's domain (ccc.de), had names associated with them, Julian Assange and Nathaniel Frank. Johnson also said he found SSH logs on the MacBook that showed an SFTP connection, from an IP address that resolved to Manning's aunt's home, to a Swedish IP address with links to WikiLeaks. There was also a text file named "Readme" attached to the logs, apparently written by Manning:

Items of historical significance of two wars Iraq and Afghanistan Significant Activity, Sigacts, between 00001 January 2004 and 2359 31 December 2009 extracts from CSV documents from Department of Defense and CDNE database. These items have already been sanitized of any source identifying information.

You might need to sit on this information for 90 to 180 days to figure out how best to send and distribute such a large amount of data to a large audience and protect the source.

This is possibly one of the most significant documents of our time, removing the fog of war and revealing the true nature of 21st century assymmetric warfare.

Have a good day.

Johnson said there had been two attempts to delete material from the MacBook. The operating system was re-installed in January 2010, and on or around January 31 an attempt was made to erase the hard drive by doing a "zero-fill," which involves overwriting material with zeroes. This process was started, cancelled, then started again with a single pass. The material was recovered after the overwrite attempts from unallocated space.

Defense arguments

photograph
Manning in September 2009

The defense named 48 people it wanted to appear on Manning's behalf. The list was believed to include President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton had said that the diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks "did not represent significant consequences to foreign policy." Obama was named because of an April 2011 statement that Manning "broke the law":

The defense requests the presence of in order to discuss the issue of Unlawful Command Influence (UCI). Under Rule for Courts-Martial 405(e), the defense is entitled to explore the issue of UCI. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), a superior officer in the chain of command is prohibited from saying or doing anything that could influence any decision by a subordinate in how to handle a military justice matter.

Obama's statement was later echoed by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, who said "We're a nation of laws. He did violate the law."

Manning's lawyers argued that the government had overstated the harm the release of the documents had caused, and had overcharged Manning in order to obtain evidence against Assange. They suggested that other people had had access to Manning's workplace computer, and under cross-examination Shaver acknowledged that some of the 10,000 cables on Manning's personal computer did not match cables published by WikiLeaks. Coombs asked for the dismissal of any charge related to the use of unauthorized software, arguing that Manning's unit had been "lawless ... when it comes to information assurance."

The defense also raised the issue of whether Manning's gender identity disorder had affected Manning's judgment. Manning had e-mailed master sergeant, Paul Adkins, in April 2010 to say she was suffering from gender confusion and, despite then living as a man, attaching a photograph of herself dressed as a woman. After Manning's arrest, the army found information about hormone replacement therapy in her room, and Manning's commander, Captain Steven Lim, learned that she had been calling herself Breanna. Defense lawyers argued that the superiors had failed to provide adequate counseling, and had not taken disciplinary action or revoked Manning's security clearance. They also suggested that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy—which was repealed in September 2011—had made it difficult for Manning to serve in the army as a gay man.

Defense request to depose six witnesses

After the hearing, in January 2012, Coombs filed a request to depose six witnesses, whose names were redacted in the application, and who are believed to have been involved in classifying the leaked videos. Coombs argues that the videos were not classified at the time they were obtained by WikiLeaks.

Article 39 hearing

An Article 39 hearing was convened on April 24, 2012, during which the judge, Colonel Denise Lind, denied a defense motion to dismiss the charge of aiding the enemy, and ruled that the government must be able to show that Manning knew the enemy would be able to access information on the WikiLeaks site. She ordered the CIA, FBI, DIA, State Department, and Department of Justice to release documents showing their assessment of whether the leaked material had damaged the national interest of the United States. Lind said she would decide after reading the documents whether to make them available to Manning's lawyers. She also ordered forensic imaging of five computers removed from Manning's work station that had not yet been wiped clean.

At the start of the hearing, Manning replaced the assigned two military defense lawyers, Major Matthew Kemkes and Captain Paul Bouchard, with Captain Joshua Tooman. The next Article 39 hearing was set for June 6–8 and trial was set for September 2012.

Petition to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals

The Center for Constitutional Rights filed a petition in May 2012 asking the Army Court of Criminal Appeals to order press and public access to motion papers, orders, and transcripts. Petitioners included Julian Assange, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, Chase Madar, author of The Passion of Bradley Manning (2011), and Glenn Greenwald of Salon.

Motion to dismiss

On September 19, 2012, Manning's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss all charges with prejudice, arguing that Manning had been unable to obtain a speedy trial. The motion said that the 845 days spent in pretrial confinement was longer than the periods that the law says is unreasonable (United States military law normally requires a trial within 120 days). Judge Lind ruled against the defense motion and allowed for the delay because the prosecution needed more time to prepare its case.

Initial plea

Audio recording of an excerpt of Manning's statement given on February 28, 2013

On February 28, 2013, Manning pleaded guilty to 10 of the 22 specified charges. Military judge Colonel Denise Lind accepted the guilty pleas, for which Manning could face up to 20 years in prison. Manning did not plead guilty to the most significant charge of aiding the enemy.

Manning acknowledged having provided archives of military and diplomatic files to WikiLeaks. She pleaded guilty to 10 criminal counts in connection with the material leaked, which included videos of airstrikes in Iraq and Afghanistan in which civilians were killed, logs of military incident reports, assessment files of detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and a quarter-million cables from American diplomats stationed around the world. Manning read a statement recounting how she joined the military, became an intelligence analyst in Iraq, decided that certain files should become known to the American public to prompt a wider debate about foreign policy, downloaded them from a secure computer network and then ultimately uploaded them to WikiLeaks.

When the judge asked Manning to explain how she could admit that her actions were wrong, Manning replied, "Your Honor, regardless of my opinion or my assessment of documents such as these, it's beyond my pay grade—it's not my authority to make these decisions about releasing confidential files." An audio recording of Manning's statement was released by journalist Glenn Greenwald on March 12, 2013.

Manning put the files on a camera digital storage card and took it home on a leave in early 2010. Manning then decided to give the files to a newspaper, first calling The Washington Post. Next, The New York Times was contacted and an unanswered voice mail message was left. In January 2010, Manning called the public editor's line at Bloomberg News, but got no response. Manning then copied the files and uploaded them to WikiLeaks, through its website, using a directory the group designated as a "cloud drop box" server. Manning was frustrated that WikiLeaks did not publish files about 15 people who printed "anti-Iraqi" pamphlets. After uploading the files, Manning was engaged in more online conversations with someone from WikiLeaks, who Manning thought was a senior figure, like Julian Assange. In retrospect, Manning described the relationship as "artificial."

Trial

The trial began on June 3, 2013, at Fort Meade, Maryland, before Colonel Denise Lind, chief judge, U.S. Army Trial Judiciary, 1st Judicial Circuit.

Opening for the prosecution, Captain Joe Morrow accused Manning of having "harvested" hundreds of thousands of documents from secure networks, then making them available within hours to the US's enemies by dumping them on the Internet: "This is a case about what happens when arrogance meets access to classified information," he said. For the defense, Coombs described Manning as "young, naïve and good intentioned." Coombs recounted an incident in which a convoy was hit by an IED, which U.S. troops were relieved did not result in any American fatalities. Manning was reportedly disturbed by her comrades' lack of sympathy upon later learning that an Iraqi civilian had been killed in the incident. Coombs said that by releasing material she felt the public should see, Manning had hoped to make a difference. Manning additionally believed that much of the information she released was "already basically in the public domain," and that it was of historical importance.

On July 2, at the trial's 14th day of sessions, prosecutors rested their case, having presented testimony from 80 witnesses and evidence showing that Manning's training repeatedly instructed her to not give classified information to unauthorized people. The government also presented evidence that Osama bin Laden asked for and received from an associate the Afghanistan battlefield reports WikiLeaks published, and that al-Qaeda leaders reveled in WikiLeaks' publication of reams of classified U.S. documents, urging members to study them before devising ways to attack the United States.

On July 10, the defense rested its case after presenting evidence from 10 witnesses. Manning did not take the stand. Attempting to undercut the most serious charge against Manning—aiding the enemy—defense lawyers called Harvard Law School professor Yochai Benkler, who testified that until WikiLeaks started publishing the material Manning leaked, even the Pentagon apparently viewed the anti-secrecy website as a legitimate journalistic enterprise. Thereafter, said Benkler, the public, the military and traditional news media perceived WikiLeaks as a group that supported terrorism.

On July 18, Judge Lind rejected a defense motion to dismiss the charge of aiding the enemy, citing Manning's extensive training as an intelligence analyst and the sheer volume of records that were leaked as reasons to allow the charge to proceed. In its rebuttal case, the prosecution entered three tweets from WikiLeaks that Manning may have viewed to show that the organization was not a legitimate journalistic enterprise. In surrebuttal, the defense entered articles into evidence depicting WikiLeaks as an important journalism outlet, a platform "just as important as" the Freedom of Information Act (United States).

On July 25, chief prosecutor Maj. Ashden Fein delivered the government's closing argument, portraying Manning as an "anarchist" who sought to "make a splash" by providing vast archives of secret documents to WikiLeaks. Arguing that Manning must be found guilty of aiding the enemy, Fein said, "He was not a whistleblower. He was a traitor, a traitor who understood the value of compromised information in the hands of the enemy and took deliberate steps to ensure that they, along with the world, received it." Fein contended that Manning's "wholesale and indiscriminate compromise of hundreds of thousands of classified documents" for release by the WikiLeaks staff, whom he called "essentially information anarchists," was not an ordinary journalistic disclosure but a bid for "notoriety, although in a clandestine form." Fein addressed the court for nearly six hours.

The next day, defense attorney Coombs countered with his own closing argument, portraying Manning as "a young, naïve, but good-intentioned soldier who had human life and his humanist beliefs center to his decisions, whose sole focus was, 'Maybe I just can make a difference, maybe make a change.'" Coombs said his client released only files she believed would cause no harm yet spark debate and prompt change, and that if Manning had not been selective, she would have leaked much more. Playing excerpts from the Baghdad helicopter attack ("Collateral Murder") video that Manning admitted supplying to WikiLeaks, Coombs told Judge Lind: "When the court looks at this, the defense requests that you not disengage, that you not look at this from the eyes of 'this happened on a battlefield.' Did they all deserve to die? That is what Private Manning is thinking as he is watching this video he is seeing, and he's questioning."

With closing arguments concluded, Col. Lind began her deliberations. Manning chose to have her court-martial heard by the judge only instead of a jury.

Findings

On July 30, 2013, Judge Lind issued her findings regarding the charges. Manning was acquitted of aiding the enemy by knowingly giving out intelligence through indirect means, and was convicted of 19 of the 21 or 22 specified charges, including theft and six counts of espionage. The hearing on sentencing began on July 31, 2013. The maximum sentence that Manning could have faced was 136 years' imprisonment. This was subsequently reduced to 90 years after the military court granted the defense's motion to merge some of the 20 counts that Manning was being charged with on the grounds that they overlapped.

Sentencing

The judge ruled in January 2013 that Manning's sentence would be reduced by 112 days because of treatment during confinement at Quantico. The sentencing phase of the trial began on July 31. A military psychologist who had treated Manning, Capt. Michael Worsley, testified that Manning had been left isolated in the army, trying to deal with gender-identity issues in a "hyper-masculine environment." On August 14 during the sentencing hearing, Manning apologized for past actions, telling the court: "I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that they hurt the United States. I am sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions. When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people. ... At the time of my decisions I was dealing with a lot of issues." On August 21, 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Manning was given credit of 1,293 days (3 years and 6 months) served in pre-trial confinement, and may be eligible for parole after serving one-third of the sentence. Manning was also reduced to the lowest enlisted pay grade (E-1), forfeited all pay and allowances, and given a dishonorable discharge.

Petition for commutation of sentence

On September 3, 2013, Manning's attorney announced that he had filed on his client's behalf a Petition for Commutation of Sentence, submitted with a letter to the Secretary of the Army and, through the Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney, to President Obama, seeking a presidential pardon.

On January 17, 2017, President Obama commuted Manning's sentence to a total of seven years' confinement, starting with the initial date of arrest. As a result of the commutation Manning was released on May 17, 2017.

Appeal

On May 31, 2018, the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Manning's 2013 court-martial conviction of violating the Espionage Act. The court rejected Manning's contention that the statute is too vague to provide fair notice of the criminal nature of disclosing classified documents. "The facts of this case," the three-judge panel ruled, "leave no question as to what constituted national defense information. Appellant's training and experience indicate, without any doubt, she was on notice and understood the nature of the information she was disclosing and how its disclosure could negatively affect national defense." The court also rejected Manning's assertion that her actions in disclosing classified information related to national security are protected by the First Amendment. Manning, the court found, "had no First Amendment right to make the disclosures—doing so not only violated the nondisclosure agreements she signed, but also jeopardized national security."

See also

Material alleged to have been leaked
Miscellaneous

Notes

  1. At the time known as Bradley Manning.
  1. ^ Jennifer Rizzo, "Bradley Manning charged", CNN, February 23, 2012.
  2. Patrick Semansky, "Bradley Manning wants to live as a woman: 'I am Chelsea Manning'", Toronto Star, August 22, 2013.
  3. "Alleged Army Whistleblower Felt "Isolated"". CBS News. July 7, 2010.
  4. "Bradley Manning enters guilty pleas in WikiLeaks case", CBS News, February 28, 2013.
  5. ^ Julie Tate and Ellen Nakashima, "Bradley Manning court-martial opens", The Washington Post, June 3, 2013.
  6. "Closing arguments conclude; Manning's fate now with judge". CNN. July 26, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  7. "Verdict in Manning trial to be read Tuesday". CNN. July 29, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  8. Matt Sledge (July 30, 2013). "Bradley Manning Found Guilty of 19 Counts, Not Guilty of Aiding The Enemy". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  9. ^ Dashiell Bennett (July 30, 2013). "Bradley Manning Found Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy". theatlanticwire.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  10. ^ "Army Pfc. Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy, convicted of six counts of espionage". New York: NY Daily News. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  11. ^ Savage, Charlie (July 30, 2013). "Manning Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy". New York Times. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  12. ^ "Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy for giving secrets to WikiLeaks". CBS News. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  13. "BBC News – Bradley Manning guilty of espionage in Wikileaks case". bbc.co.uk. July 30, 2013.
  14. Dishneau, David. "Manning Gets 35 years for wikileaks disclosures". MSN.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 23, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  15. ^ "Obama commutes Chelsea Manning's sentence". January 17, 2017.
  16. ^ Savage, Charlie (January 17, 2017). "Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning's Sentence". The New York Times. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  17. ^ Volokh, Eugene (June 1, 2018). "Chelsea Manning Loses Wikileaks First Amendment Appeal". reason.com. Reason. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  18. Kim Zetter, "Bradley Manning to Face All Charges in Court-Martial", Wired, February 3, 2012.
  19. "Attorney for WikiLeaks suspect says he's seen no evidence on documents" Archived April 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, CNN, August 31, 2010.
  20. "WikiLeaks: Bradley Manning faces 22 new charges", CBS News, March 2, 2011.
  21. "Panel Says WikiLeaks Suspect Is Competent to Stand Trial", Associated Press, April 29, 2011.
  22. Linnington was later promoted to Lt. Gen. and became the DoD Deputy Director for Readiness Archived October 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. His replacement at MDW is Maj. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan Archived October 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  23. Regarding fitness to stand trial, see "Panel Says WikiLeaks Suspect Is Competent to Stand Trial", Associated Press, April 29, 2011.
  24. Denver Nicks, Private: Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks, and the Biggest Exposure of Official Secrets in American History, Chicago Review Press, 2012, p. 3.
  25. Nicks 2012, p. 223.
  26. ^ The army investigators' testimony Zetter, December 19, 2011
  27. Nicks 2012, pp. 137–138; also see Zetter, December 19, 2011.
  28. Ed Pilkington (December 5, 2011). "Bradley Manning team to highlight WikiLeaks suspect's fragile mental state | World news". theguardian.com. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  29. "Did Obama taint Manning's right to fair trial? – US news – Security". NBC News. April 26, 2011. Archived from the original on August 2, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  30. Greenberg, Andy (April 22, 2011). "Video Of Obama On Bradley Manning: "He Broke The Law"". Forbes. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  31. Stephanie Condon (April 22, 2011). "Obama says Bradley Manning "broke the law" – Political Hotsheet". CBS News. Archived from the original on April 25, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  32. Greenwald, Glenn (April 23, 2011). "President Obama speaks on Manning and the rule of law". Salon.com. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  33. "Barack Obama on Bradley Manning: 'He broke the law' – MJ Lee and Abby Phillip". Politico.Com. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  34. "Defense Article 32 Witness List.pdf – Google Drive". Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  35. Cole, William. "Dempsey: US 'preparing military options' if needed for Syria – Pacific". Stripes. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  36. For the prosecution argument about Manning's "absolute indifference," and for the defense argument about Manning's unit being "lawless," see Serena Marshall, "Court Martial for Bradley Manning in Wikileaks Case?", ABC News, December 22, 2011.
  37. David Coombs, "Request for oral depositions", United States v. PFC Bradley Manning, January 12, 2012.
  38. § 839
  39. ^ "Bradley Manning Judge to Rule on Request to Drop Charges", ABC News, April 24, 2012.
  40. David Dishneau, "GI Seeks Dismissal of 10 Counts in WikiLeaks Case", Associated Press, May 24, 2012.
  41. Motion to Dismiss of September 19, 2012 as cited in Nathan Fuller (September 29, 2012) "The government has made an 'absolute mockery' of Bradley Manning's right to a speedy trial" BradleyManning.org
  42. Adam Klasfeld, "Landmark Delays in Manning Court-Martial, Lawyer Says" Courthouse News Service, October 1, 2012.
  43. Adam Klasfeld, "Judges Doubt Need for Secrecy in Bradley Manning Court-Martial" Courthouse News Service, October 10, 2012.
  44. Ed Pilkington at Fort Meade, Maryland (February 26, 2013). "Bradley Manning judge rules length of soldier's detention 'reasonable' | World news". London: theguardian.com. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  45. "Bradley Manning pleads guilty to some Wikileaks charges", BBC News, February 28, 2013.
  46. ^ Charlie Savage, Scott Shane (March 1, 2013). "Soldier Admits Providing Files To WikiLeaks". The New York Times. p. A1.
  47. Glenn Greenwald, "Finally: hear Bradley Manning in his own voice", The Guardian, March 12, 2013.
  48. Judge Advocate General Corps website Archived February 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, last updated September 24, 2012, retrieved July 23, 2013.
  49. Paul McGeough, "WikiLeaks trial begins on a low-note", Sydney Morning Herald, June 4, 2013.
  50. David Dishneau & Pauline Jelinek, "Prosecution rests in Manning's WikiLeaks trial", Associated Press, July 2, 2013.
  51. Associated Press (July 2, 2013). "Prosecution submits al-Qaida excerpts in Wikileaks trial". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont. pp. 5A. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  52. Associated Press, "Bradley Manning's defense rests its case in WikiLeaks scandal", Los Angeles Times, July 10, 2013.
  53. Julie Tate, "Judge in Bradley Manning trial rejects motion to dismiss key charge", The Washington Post, July 18, 2013.
  54. Charlie Savage (July 25, 2013). "In Closing Argument, Prosecutor Casts Soldier as 'Anarchist' for Leaking Archives". New York Times.
  55. Charlie Savage (July 27, 2013). "Defense Calls Manning's Intentions Good". New York Times.
  56. David Dishneau, "Bradley Manning Trial Begins 3 Years After Arrest", Associated Press, June 3, 2013.
  57. Bill Chappell (July 31, 2013). "As Sentencing Phase Begins, Manning Could Face Decades In Prison". NPR.
  58. Pilkington, Ed (August 6, 2013). "Bradley Manning's maximum sentence reduced to a possible 90 years". The Guardian.
  59. Tate, Julie and Nakashima, Ellen. "Judge refuses to dismiss charges against WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning", The Washington Post, January 8, 2013.
  60. Tate, Julie and Londono, Ernesto. "Bradley Manning found not guilty of aiding the enemy, convicted on other charges", The Washington Post, July 30, 2013.
  61. Kube, Courtney; DeLuca, Matthew; McClam, Erin. "'I'm sorry that I hurt the United States': Bradley Manning apologizes in court", NBC News, August 14, 2013.
  62. "Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison". CNN. August 22, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  63. "Bradley Manning gets 35 years in prison for giving US secrets to WikiLeaks". WFTV TV. Archived from the original on August 21, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  64. Simpson, Ian. "Manning seeks presidential pardon in WikiLeaks case", Reuters, September 4, 2013.

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