Chelsea Manning jailed for refusing to testify before grand jury in Virginia

Manning will remain in custody until she agrees to testify or until the grand jury ends its work.</s>Chelsea Manning has been taken into custody for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury, in the same Virginia district where the government inadvertently revealed a sealed indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

As ABC News reported, Manning was taken into custody on Friday after refusing to answer the grand jury’s questions. Manning was then found to be in contempt of court. Manning released a statement saying that she was prepared to face the consequences for her refusal to answer questions.

“A judge will consider the legal grounds for my refusal to answer questions in front of a grand jury,” Manning said. “The court may find me in contempt, and order me to jail.”

That was exactly what happened, with Manning being arrested on Friday morning after her refusal to answer questions.

Chelsea Manning was imprisoned for the 2010 release of classified information to WikiLeaks, information which included diplomatic cables and video of a 2007 attack by a U.S. helicopter in Baghdad — one that left civilians dead, including two reporters from Reuters. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison following her trial in 2013, but her sentence was commuted by Barack Obama in 2017.

Manning’s arrest and imprisonment had drawn controversy from those who believed she should have been afforded whistleblower protections, and critics of her sentencing noted that her initial 35-year sentence was especially harsh compared to similar cases.

The apparent decision to target WikiLeaks — and founder Julian Assange — has now also drawn criticism from many who believe that the agency should be afforded the same First Amendment protections as other news agencies that publish sensitive documents and reports. A recent report from The Daily Beast noted that the Obama administration held off on prosecuting WikiLeaks for fear of running into First Amendment issues, but that has changed under Donald Trump.

“After the election [of Donald Trump], that all changed,” the report noted. “The FBI began reaching out again to the diverse cast of characters from WikiLeaks’ early days — most of whom had long ago parted company with Assange on acrimonious terms.”

There had been signs that Chelsea Manning would be pulled into the grand jury, the report added. David House, who worked as a volunteer for WikiLeaks and has been friends with Manning, said he was subpoenaed in May to appear before a grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia. This is the same location to which Manning was also summoned this week. House said that he decided to cooperate with the investigation in exchange for immunity.

Chelsea Manning will remain in jail until she either decides to testify, or until the grand jury’s work concludes, ABC News noted.</s>Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning was jailed on Friday after refusing to answer questions from a federal grand jury in Virginia looking into the release of documents to WikiLeaks.

U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton told Manning that she would remain in federal custody “until she purges or the end of the life of the grand jury” a statement from her representatives said.

Earlier in the day, Manning told reporters that she was prepared to go to jail following the closed contempt hearing for her resistance to provide testimony because she doesn't believe in the grand jury process.

On Wednesday, Manning appeared before the same grand jury, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, but refused to answer any questions.

"I responded to each question with the following statement: ‘I object to the question and refuse to answer on the grounds that the question is in violation of my First, Fourth, and Sixth Amendment, and other statutory rights," Manning said in a statement.

"All of the substantive questions pertained to my disclosures of information to the public in 2010 — answers I provided in extensive testimony, during my court-martial in 2013," the statement said.

Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking a trove of military intelligence records to the anti-secrecy website Wikileaks. Her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2017 after seven years behind bars.

A day earlier, a judge in the Eastern District of Virginia denied a motion filed by Manning's attorneys challenging a subpoena calling her to testify, according to her lawyers.

Manning told The Associated Press Tuesday that she didn't know what case she was being called to testify about.

"I just know there were an awful lot of government lawyers there," she said after the hearing in which her motion was denied.

"Grand juries are terrible, to say the least," Manning, 31, added.

"Grand juries operate in secret, allowing the government to retaliate against activists and dissidents behind closed doors," said a statement from the committee released by Manning's lawyers.

“Donald Trump and his administration have publicly declared their disdain for Chelsea, and for President Obama’s decision to commute her sentence," the Chelsea Resists! statement said. "Chelsea has stood by the testimony from her 2013 court-martial, and this subpoena serves no legitimate purpose. It is a punitive effort to reverse Obama’s legacy, exposing Chelsea to legal hardship and possible imprisonment."</s>March 8 (UPI) -- Whistle-blower Chelsea Manning was sent to jail Friday for refusing to answer questions from a grand jury about the release of WikiLeaks documents she leaked in 2010.

Manning, a transgender former U.S. Army intelligence analyst named Bradley Manning, said Friday she was "prepared to face the consequences" of the contempt hearing in January. An attorney for Manning said an appeal of the contempt citation is likely.

She has said she doesn't believe in the grand jury process and wouldn't answer questions from a secret grand jury about the WikiLeaks case.

"I responded to each question with the following statement: 'I object to the question and refuse to answer on the grounds that the question is in violation of my First, Fourth, and Sixth Amendment, and other statutory rights," Manning said in a statement. "All of the substantive questions pertained to my disclosures of information to the public in 2010 - answers I provided in extensive testimony, during my court-martial in 2013."

The judge ordered Manning to stay in jail until either she answers questions or the grand jury finishes investigating, which her attorneys said could be 18 months away.

Manning was originally sentenced to 35 years in prison for the unauthorized disclosure of classified materials to WikiLeaks in 2010. The documents included diplomatic communications and a video from 2007 of a U.S. helicopter firing at civilians as it flew over Baghdad. The attack killed two news photographers and injured two children.

President Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017 and she was released.

Supporters have called the proceeding political retribution by the Trump administration. The group Chelsea Resists! called the grand jury system "dangerous and undemocratic."

"Grand juries operate in secret, allowing the government to retaliate against activists and dissidents behind closed doors," the group said in a statement. "Donald Trump and his administration have publicly declared their disdain for Chelsea, and for President Obama's decision to commute her sentence.

"Chelsea has stood by the testimony from her 2013 court-martial, and this subpoena serves no legitimate purpose. It is a punitive effort to reverse Obama's legacy, exposing Chelsea to legal hardship and possible imprisonment."</s>Whistleblower and activist Chelsea Manning has been ordered to appear at a contempt hearing this Friday for refusing to answer questions about her association with WikiLeaks nearly a decade ago before a federal grand jury in Virginia. 



Manning, 31, was subpoenaed last month to appear behind closed doors this week to answer questions as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into Julian Assange. An indictment against the WikiLeaks founder was inadvertently leaked by prosecutors in a court filing in November. The nature of the charges against him remain unclear.

Although Manning was granted immunity in exchange for testimony—a device commonly used to increase witness cooperation—she declined to answer any of the government’s questions, citing the First, Fourth, and Sixth Amendment, among other statutory rights. Manning also stated that all of the questions related to information she’d previously provided during her court martial in 2013.

“On Friday, I will return to federal court in Alexandria, Virginia for a closed contempt hearing. A judge will consider the legal grounds for my refusal to answer questions in front of a grand jury. The court may find me in contempt, and order me to jail,” Manning said in a statement.

There is a possibility that Manning could be remanded into custody as a recalcitrant witness and confined in an effort to coerce her compliance. The law allows for the confinement of resistant witnesses in cases where they are unable provide just cause—such as insufficient time to prepare for testimony or questions that lie outside the bounds of an immunity agreement.

A witness held in contempt cannot be confinement for more than 18 months and confinement may not exceed the life of the grand jury itself. Jail time, however, is only one possible outcome.

“In solidarity with many activists facing the odds, I will stand by my principles. I will exhaust every legal remedy available,” Manning said.. “My legal team continues to challenge the secrecy of these proceedings, and I am prepared to face the consequences of my refusal.”

Earlier this week, her attorneys had filed motions trying, unsuccessfully, to quash the subpoena or otherwise make the full record of her testimony public.

Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, leaked more than 725,000 classified U.S. government documents to WikiLeaks following her deployment to Baghdad in 2009, including diplomatic cables, battlefield reports, and five Guantanamo Bay detainee profiles. At trial, she cited her growing concerns over the U.S. military’s collaboration with torturers and the “seemingly delightful bloodlust” of U.S. aerial weapons teams as primary motivation for the leak.

In a letter following her arrest, Manning stated she believed the public was incapable of deciding what U.S. military policies and actions were justifiable “if they don’t even know the most rudimentary details about them and their effects.”

Acquitted of aiding the enemy, she was convicted under the Espionage Act for leaking portions of 227 documents in 2013. The harsh treatment she received during her pre-trail detention was condemned internationally as torture.

Manning, who at trial expressed remorse that her actions “hurt the United States,” was sentenced to 35 years in prison—more time than anyone has ever received for disclosing classified U.S. government records.

While the leaks, which came to be known as the Afghan and Iraq War logs, were embarrassing for the military and the U.S. State Department, a Defense Intelligence Agency review later found they posed only a moderate to low risk to the nation. As of 2013, there were no known incidents of intelligence sources being harmed as a result of the leaks.

In one of his last acts in office, then-President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s sentence in 2017.</s>Former United States Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was jailed on Friday after a judge held her in contempt for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury, Reuters reported. The US Justice Department and representatives for Manning confirmed the development.

Manning had appeared before the grand jury on Wednesday but refused to answer questions in connection with the government’s investigation into Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange. She returned to court for another hearing on Friday. Virginia District Court Judge Claude Hilton weighed the legal arguments used by Manning to justify her decision to defy the subpoena.

“Chelsea Manning has been remanded into federal custody for her refusal to provide testimony,” AFP quoted a statement from the Sparrow Project, a support group for Manning, as saying. According to Hilton, Manning would be held indefinitely “until she purges or the end of the life of the grand jury”.

In a statement, Manning said she had “ethical” objections to the grand jury system and had answered all questions about her involvement with WikiLeaks years ago. “I stand by my previous testimony,” she said. “I will not participate in a secret process that I morally object to, particularly one that has been historically used to entrap and persecute activists for protected political speech.”

Manning was reportedly asked to testify in connection with the information she leaked to the public in 2010 through WikiLeaks. At the time Manning, a transgender woman then known as Bradley Manning, was a military intelligence analyst.

Three years later, Manning was convicted by court-martial of espionage and other offences for disclosing more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to WikiLeaks. The documents exposed cover-ups of possible war crimes and revealed internal US communications about other countries.

In his final days in office, former President Barack Obama had commuted the final 28 years of Manning’s 35-year sentence. Manning was released from prison in May 2017.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been a target of a criminal investigation in the US, had promised to accept extradition if Manning was freed. Assange has been living in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012.</s>Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning has been jailed for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks.

Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning has been jailed for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks.

US District Judge Claude Hilton ordered Manning to be jailed on Friday after a brief hearing in which Manning confirmed she has no intention of testifying.

She told the judge she "will accept whatever you bring upon me".

Manning has said she objects to the secrecy of the grand jury process, and that she already revealed everything she knows at her court martial.

The judge said she will remain jailed until she testifies, or until the grand jury concludes its work.

Manning's lawyers had asked that she be sent to home confinement instead of the jail, because of medical complications she faces.

The judge said US Marshals can handle her medical care.</s>WASHINGTON – A federal judge ordered Chelsea Manning jailed Friday after she refused to comply with a subpoena to testify before a grand jury about WikiLeaks.

Manning revealed last week in the New York Times that she was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The subpoena did not specify what prosecutors wanted to ask her about, but there was widespread speculation it related to WikiLeaks and the group's founder Julian Assange.

A spokesperson for Manning said in a statement Friday that Manning "refused to answer questions from prosecutors regarding the release of information she disclosed to the public in 2010" — when Manning leaked hundreds of thousands of military documents to WikiLeaks.

Manning and her lawyers challenged the subpoena. Manning's spokesperson said US District Judge Claude Hilton, who sits in Alexandria, Virginia, found Manning in contempt and ordered her jailed until she complied — the legal term is to "purge" one's self of contempt — or until the grand jury finished its work. Manning can appeal the contempt order. Her lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.

Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, was arrested in 2010 for leaking hundreds of thousands of military documents to WikiLeaks. A military court found her guilty of violating the Espionage Act in 2013, among other crimes, and she was sentenced to 35 years in prison. But in January 2017, in the final days of the Obama administration, former president Barack Obama commuted Manning's sentence, and she was released in May of that year.

Assange praised the clemency decision through his attorney at the time.

Although federal prosecutors have been investigating WikiLeaks, the Justice Department has not publicly commented on the status of any investigations. Special counsel Robert Mueller's office has indicted Russian nationals with leaking emails to WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign stolen from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager John Podesta. Assange has long feared criminal prosecution in the United States, and has been living at the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012.

In November, journalists noticed an unusual court filing in the federal district court in Alexandria that included two references to "Assange." The criminal case wasn't related to Assange or WikiLeaks, but involved a request by prosecutors to seal criminal charges against an unrelated defendant, leading to speculation that it was a bad copy-and-paste job by prosecutors from another, sealed court filing related to charges against Assange.

In January, a judge denied a request by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to unseal any court records — if they exist — about Assange.</s>A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, has ordered Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence officer and whistleblower who served seven years in prison for passing information to WikiLeaks, to be held in jail for refusing to answer questions before a grand jury.

Manning will be held until she testifies or until the grand jury concludes its work, Judge Claude M. Hilton ruled in the closed contempt hearing on Friday. The nature of the investigation is not publicly known, but Manning said she was asked to testify about WikiLeaks.

Manning had said earlier in the day that she was prepared to go to jail. She told reporters that she had already revealed everything she knew during her court martial, when she was tried and sentenced to 35 years in prison after sharing classified documents with WikiLeaks in 2010. President Barack Obama commuted her sentence after seven years.

“All of the substantive questions pertained to my disclosures of information to the public in 2010—answers I provided in extensive testimony, during my court-martial in 2013,” Manning said in a statement.

Manning also said she objected to the process. “These secret proceedings tend to favor the government,” she said outside the courtroom, according to the Washington Post. “I’m always willing to explain things publicly.”

Manning’s lawyers asked that she be confined at home rather than sent to prison because of medical complications, but the judge said the jail officials have assured the government they can meet Manning’s medical needs.</s>Chelsea Manning Is Jailed After Refusing To Testify About WikiLeaks

Chelsea Manning, the former Army private, is back in U.S. federal custody, jailed over her refusal to testify before a grand jury in a case involving WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.

Judge Claude Hilton of the U.S. District Court in Eastern Virginia ordered Manning to jail Friday "after a brief hearing in which Manning confirmed she has no intention of testifying," the Associated Press reports.

The order sending Manning to jail is under seal, but the judge issued the sanction against her in open court, the clerk's office told NPR. After Manning refused to testify, Hilton remanded the former intelligence analyst to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Manning first reported to the Albert V. Bryan U.S. District Courthouse on Tuesday, hoping to cancel a subpoena to testify in what has widely been reported as an investigation into Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Details of the case remain under seal, the clerk's office said.

"Manning has said she objects to the secrecy of the grand jury process," the AP reports, "and that she already revealed everything she knows at her court martial."

Manning has previously acknowledged leaking hundreds of thousands of military and State Department documents to WikiLeaks in 2010, from battlefield reports to U.S. embassy cables.

Manning returns to jail nearly two years after being freed from a military prison in Kansas, where she had been serving a 35-year prison term. Former President Barack Obama shortened her sentence to about seven years shortly before he left office.
Chelsea Manning is jailed for refusing to answer questions from a federal grand jury in Virginia looking into the release of documents to WikiLeaks.