Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Chelsea Manning Trial Part I

Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley EdwardManning, December 17, 1987) is an American activist andwhistleblower. She is a former United States Army soldier who wasconvicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of theEspionage Act and other offenses, after disclosing to WikiLeaksnearly 750,000 classified, or unclassified but sensitive, militaryand diplomatic documents. She was imprisoned from 2010 until 2017when her sentence was commuted. A trans woman, Manning stated in 2013that she had a female gender identity since childhood and wanted tobe known as Chelsea Manning. She also expressed a desire to beginhormone replacement therapy.

Assigned in 2009 to an Army unit in Iraq as an intelligenceanalyst, Manning had access to classified databases. In early 2010,she leaked classified information to WikiLeaks and confided this toAdrian Lamo, an online acquaintance. Lamo indirectly informed theArmy's Criminal Investigation Command, and Manning was arrested inMay that same year. The material included videos of the July 12,2007, Baghdad airstrike and the 2009 Granai airstrike in Afghanistan;251,287 U.S. diplomatic cables; and 482,832 Army reports that came tobe known as the "Iraq War Logs" and "AfghanWar Diary". The material was published by WikiLeaks and itsmedia partners between April 2010 and April 2011.

Manning was charged with 22 offenses, including aiding the enemy,which was the most serious charge and could have resulted in a deathsentence. She was held at the Marine Corps Brig, Quantico inVirginia, from July 2010 to April 2011, under Prevention of Injurystatus—which entailed de facto solitary confinement and otherrestrictions that caused domestic and international concern—beforebeing transferred to the Joint Regional Correctional Facility at FortLeavenworth, Kansas, where she could interact with other detainees.She pleaded guilty in February 2013 to 10 of the charges. The trialon the remaining charges began on June 3, 2013, and on July 30, shewas convicted of 17 of the original charges and amended versions offour others, but was acquitted of aiding the enemy. She was sentencedto 35 years at the maximum-security U.S. Disciplinary Barracks atFort Leavenworth. On January 17, 2017, President Barack Obamacommuted Manning's sentence to nearly seven years of confinementdating from her arrest on May 27, 2010. After release, Manning earneda living through speaking engagements.

In 2018, Manning challenged incumbent Senator Ben Cardin for theDemocratic nomination for the United States Senate election in herhome state of Maryland. Manning received 5.8% of the votes; Cardinwon renomination with 80.4% of the votes cast. From March 8, 2019, toMarch 12, 2020 (except for a week from May 9 to 16), Manning wasjailed for contempt and fined $256,000 for refusing to testify beforea grand jury investigating WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Background

Early life

Born Bradley Edward Manning in 1987 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,she was the second child of Susan Fox, originally from Wales, andBrian Manning, an American. Brian had joined the United States Navyin 1974, at the age of 19, and served for five years as anintelligence analyst. Brian met Susan while stationed in Wales at RAFBrawdy. Manning's older sister, Casey Manning, was born in 1976. Thecouple returned to the United States in 1979, settling first inCalifornia. After their move near Crescent, Oklahoma, they bought ahouse with 5 acres (2 hectares) of land, where they kept pigs andchickens.