Image copyright AP Image caption Manning declared her new identity the day after sentencing

US President Barack Obama has commuted Chelsea Manning's sentence for leaking documents to Wikileaks in 2010.

The 29-year-old transgender US Army private, born Bradley Manning, will be freed on 17 May instead of her scheduled 2045 release.

She was sentenced to 35 years in 2013 for her role in leaking diplomatic cables to the anti-secrecy group.

The leak was one of the largest breaches of classified material in US history.

The commutation reduces Manning's sentence but is not a pardon, which some campaigners had called for.

More on Chelsea Manning

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Who is Chelsea Manning?

Manning's uncle, Kevin Fox, referring to Chelsea as a man, told the BBC the family was "over the moon".

"It's sooner than we expected - we didn't expect his case even to be looked at for another three or four years," Mr Fox said.

Manning lived for four years as a teenager in Wales. Her Welsh family said in a statement that they were "overjoyed", adding that there would "always be a welcome for her here in Wales".

Manning twice attempted suicide last year at the male military prison where she is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

She also went on a hunger strike last year, which she ended after the military agreed to provide her with gender transition treatment.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Chelsea Manning, then Bradley, was convicted in 2013

Mr Obama granted commutation of sentences to 209 individuals and pardons to 64 others, in one of his final acts as president.

Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who leaked information on mass surveillance programmes before fleeing the US, was not granted a pardon.

Russian authorities said on Wednesday that Mr Snowden had been granted a two-year extension to his temporary asylum in the country.

What's the reaction?

Manning's lawyer, David Coombs, told the BBC the decision would be a great relief to his client.

"It really is a great act of mercy by President Obama," said Mr Coombs.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald, who broke the story of Edward Snowden's leaks, told the BBC: "I don't think she (Manning) should have spent a single day in prison."

He said she was "heroic and has inspired millions of people around the world".

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Journalist Glenn Greenwald: Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden "acted with extreme amounts of courage"

Writing on Twitter, Mr Snowden said: "Let it be said here in earnest, with good heart: Thanks, Obama."

But Republican Senator John McCain said the decision was "a grave mistake that I fear will encourage further acts of espionage".

And House Speaker Paul Ryan, also a Republican, called it "outrageous".

What was in the leaked cables?

The US Army charged Manning with 22 counts relating to the unauthorised possession and distribution of more than 700,000 secret diplomatic and military documents and video.

Included in those files was video footage of an Apache helicopter killing 12 civilians in Baghdad in 2007.

Image caption Leaked footage showed a US helicopter pilot killing civilians and journalists

Manning also passed on sensitive messages between US diplomats, intelligence assessments of Guantanamo detainees being held without trial and military records from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The disclosures were considered an embarrassment to the US, prompting the Obama administration to crack down on government leaks.

At a sentencing hearing, Manning apologised for "hurting the US" and said she had thought she could "change the world for the better".

More on commuted sentences

What next for Julian Assange?

Wikileaks, which published the diplomatic cables, previously said its founder Julian Assange would agree to be extradited to the US if Mr Obama granted clemency to Manning.

The White House said Manning's commutation had not been influenced in any way by Mr Assange's offer, and the US justice department has not indicted Mr Assange nor publicly sought his extradition.

He is wanted for questioning by Swedish authorities in relation to an alleged sex offence.

Mr Assange, who has taken refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, did not immediately comment on whether he plans to surrender.

But he did tweet: "Thank you to everyone who campaigned for Chelsea Manning's clemency. Your courage and determination made the impossible possible."

Why no pardon for Edward Snowden?

More than a million supporters of Mr Snowden have petitioned Mr Obama to pardon Mr Snowden, who also leaked classified US documents.

But according to the White House, the National Security Agency (NSA) leaker has not himself submitted the necessary documents.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Mr Snowden has been living in Russia since 2013

The White House last week pointed out that Manning had passed through the US military justice system and acknowledged her crimes.

Mr Snowden, however, fled the US in 2013, evading charges in America which could put him in prison for up to 30 years. He now lives in Russia.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said "the disclosures by Edward Snowden were far more serious and far more dangerous" and accused him of fleeing "into the arms of an adversary".

How do pardons and commutations work?

Mr Obama has commuted 1,385 sentences and issued 212 pardons, more than the total granted by the past 12 presidents combined.

In America, a pardon not only lifts the sentence but removes other penalties such as the bar on convicted felons sitting on federal juries, and state-level prohibitions on such things as voting or possession of firearms.

A commutation means the sentence is lifted but the civil handicaps outlined above remain.

Neither a pardon nor a commutation is an acknowledgment of innocence.</s>President Barack Obama commuted Chelsea Manning’s 35-year prison sentence in a large push of commutations and pardons on Tuesday, January 17. According to the New York Times, the transgender former soldier will be released from prison on May 17 instead of in the year 2045.

Manning, previously known as Bradley Manning, has been incarcerated at the male military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for the past nearly seven years. She was convicted in 2013 of disclosing hundreds of thousands of classified government and military documents to WikiLeaks in 2010. Manning, 29, claimed at the time that she made the files public to incite “worldwide discussion, debates and reforms.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest explained the “pretty stark difference” between Manning’s case and that of Edward J. Snowden on Tuesday, stating that while their offenses were similar, there were “some important differences.” (Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said last year that he would surrender to U.S. authorities if President Obama pardoned Manning.)



“Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing,” Earnest explained. “Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary, and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy.”

Manning attempted suicide twice during her sentence and last year went on a hunger strike, which she ended after the military agreed to provide her with gender dysphoria treatment.



Including Manning, Obama granted commutations to 209 individuals and pardons to 64 others.

Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics, and more delivered straight to your inbox!</s>President Barack Obama has commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the Army intelligence analyst who leaked troves of files to WikiLeaks. Manning's sentence will be commuted to expire on May 17. The decision wasn't a total surprise, as a White House spokesman had contrasted Manning's situation with Edward Snowden, noting that Manning already has gone through the U.S. legal system and acknowledged her crimes. In all, Obama granted commutation of sentence to 209 individuals and pardons to 64 individuals.</s>President Barack Obama is commuting the prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who leaked classified documents.

The White House says Manning is one of 209 inmates whose sentences Obama is shortening.

Manning is more than six years into a 35-year sentence for leaking classified government and military documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Her sentence is now set to expire May 17.

She was known as Bradley Manning at the time of her 2010 arrest and attempted suicide twice last year.

Obama is also pardoning 64 people, including retired Gen. James Cartwright, who was charged with making false statements during a probe into disclosure of classified information.

Most of the other people receiving commutations were serving sentences for nonviolent drug offenses.

This is a developing story. Please check back for more information.</s>Chelsea Manning, the whistleblower currently in jail for a 2010 information leak that revealed a massive amount of information about classified American military and diplomatic activities is having the bulk of her remaining sentence commuted by Barack Obama.

According to the New York Times, Chelsea Manning will be freed from prison in approximately five months on May 17, 2017. Manning, whose birth name is Bradley, is a transgender woman who has been incarcerated in the military prison at Leavenworth, Kansas, for the past seven years. She was sentenced in 2010 to 35 years in prison for leaking the secret information. It is the longest sentence ever given to a leaker of confidential information in U.S. history.

Speculation has mounted in recent weeks as to whether Barack Obama would commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning. Supporters have argued that her sentence was unjustifiably harsh and that the information leaked was not particularly damaging, having been classified as secret, not top secret. Last year, Chelsea Manning attempted to commit suicide on two separate occasions. For the past several years, she has been formally requesting the military pay for her gender reassignment surgery to no avail.

White House spokesman, Joshua Earnest, recently commented on a possible commutation of Manning’s sentence, comparing and contrasting it to the subject of granting a pardon for another famous whistleblower, Edward Snowden.

“Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing,” Earnest said. “Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary, and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy.”

Wikileaks, Amnesty International, and Edward Snowden, himself, have all voiced support for a commutation of Manning’s sentence. Wikileaks have been routinely tweeting in support of Manning’s release, often publicizing the vocal support of celebrities, such as Michael Stipe, the former lead singer of R.E.M, and comedian, Russell Brand.

Edward Snowden even tweeted a selfless request to Barack Obama stating that if Obama only grants one pardon, that he should consider making that pardon for Manning instead of him.

Wikileaks has already tweeted in support of Obama’s decision.

According to Buzzfeed, a lawyer from the ACLU has stated that Barack Obama’s decision to commute Chelsea Manning’s sentence could quite literally be a life-saving act. In her clemency request letter, Manning stated she did not intend to harm the United States.

“I have served a sufficiently long sentence,” Manning wrote. “I am not asking for a pardon of my conviction. I understand that the various collateral consequences of the court-martial conviction will stay on my record forever. The sole relief am asking for is to be released from military prison after serving six years of confinement as a person who did not intend to harm the interests of the United States or harm any service members.”

Chelsea Manning is seen by some as a hero and by others as a traitor to the United States. The granting of her request for clemency by Barack Obama is sure to spark controversy among Americans who have strong opinions on Barack Obama, Wikileaks, whistleblowers, and government transparency, in general.</s>President Barack Obama commuted the vast majority of Chelsea Manning's sentence on Tuesday, shrinking her time behind bars from another 28 years down to four more months.

After spending around seven years in prison, she is now set to be released on May 17, 2017.

Manning was convicted of leaking a huge amount of United States military and foreign policy material in 2010. The information was provided to then little-known WikiLeaks, launching the organization into international renown.

Edward Snowden, whose intelligence leaks catapulted to international fame similar to Manning's in 2013, has publicly called for her sentence to be commuted.

Manning, a transgender woman, is imprisoned at a male prison in Kansas and has attempted suicide there on two occasions. She was forced into solitary confinement after her first suicide attempt in July of 2016, despite a years-long history of mental and emotional deterioration. Manning joined the military in large part as a means to pay for college, but was trying to handle her gender dysphoria at a time when coming out as transgender would have given the military grounds to revoke the promise of college tuition in exchange for service.

Had her sentence not been commuted, she was scheduled to be behind bars until 2045.

Snowden and Manning have been linked over the past week, as advocates for both have implored Obama to pardon them for leaking information to the public. But in pardoning Manning, the White House made sure to point out that government officials don't believe Manning and Snowden are equatable.

"Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing," White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said, according to The New York Times. “Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary, and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy.”

Manning was a U.S. intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2009, at which point she was known as Bradley Manning. This position gave her access to information about the war there and in Afghanistan that was not available to the public. She took information regarding underreported civilian death tolls, detainee abuse, and prisoners held in Guantánamo Bay, and, through WikiLeaks in conjunction with mainstream news organizations, provided that information to the world.

"I want people to see the truth...regardless of who they are...because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public," Manning wrote at the time.

Earnest, despite the commutation announcement, did say that Manning's leaks were "damaging to national security." The Obama administration hustled to secure the safety of newly-named informers in the aftermath of the leaks, but no one has shown that people lost their lives as a result of her disclosures.</s>U.S. President Barack Obama has issued more commutations than the past 11 presidents combined and pardoned 212 prisoners. And, as of Tuesday, they include two of the most prominent individuals targeted in the Obama administration’s war on leakers: Chelsea Manning, a former Army soldier who leaked secret documents to Wikileaks, and retired General James Cartwright, who lied about leaking information about U.S. cyber attacks.

Just three days before leaving office, Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence for leaking a huge trove of classified information to WikiLeaks in 2010. Obama also pardoned Cartwright, who had been convicted but not yet sentenced for lying to federal investigators about his conversations with reporters about Stuxnet, the covert cyber operation aimed at Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Manning, who announced after her sentencing that she is a transgender woman, has served time in a male military prison, from which she will be released in May of this year. She was known as Bradley Manning at the time of the leaks and said that her realization and struggle to process being transgender contributed to the mindset that led her to leak the documents.

WikiLeaks, through which Manning leaked the cables and documents that uncovered abuses by the U.S. military, tweeted just days earlier that editor-in-chief Julian Assange would agree to extradition to the United States if Obama were to grant Manning clemency. Assange has spent over 4 years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has continued to run Wikileaks. The United States has not yet requested extradition.

Another champion of clemency for Manning: Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor who leaked documents detailing American surveillance programs the same summer Manning was sentenced.

Just because Manning has gotten clemency doesn’t mean Snowden is next. White House spokesperson Josh Earnest noted that Manning came forward and went through the military’s judicial process, while Snowden “fled into the arms of an adversary.” Snowden has been in Moscow since 2013, whereas Manning has been in prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Amnesty International said after the announcement of the commutation that Manning has “been denied critical and appropriate treatment related to her gender identity at various points during her incarceration.”

Cartwright and Manning represent the two sides of the Obama administration’s attempt to cut down on leaks of classified information. Though campaigning on a promise of unprecedented transparency, Obama has aggressively prosecuted government officials who have disclosed classified information, carrying out more prosecutions under the Espionage Act for such crimes than all previous presidents combined.

Prior to his fall from grace, Cartwright had been regarded as a darling of Obama. Cartwright masterminded the Stuxnet program, which used a digital weapon to attack Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. Stuxnet’s existence was first revealed not by official leak, but rather when the virus broke out of the computers controlling Iran’s uranium-enrichment centrifuges.

The New York Times then exposed the existence of the operation to sabotage Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and confirmed American and Israeli authorship of the virus, citing “participants in the program,” immediately setting off a Washington parlor game as to who had leaked the existence of one of the most-highly classified operations in memory. Cartwright emerged as the leading suspect, and the FBI began investigating the general in 2012.

Cartwright was beloved in the White House for a host of unpopular opinions that cut against the grain of military orthodoxy. He opposed the troop surge to Afghanistan and suggested killing the production of the F-22 fighter jet, to the dismay of defense contractors. Such contrarian opinions won him a favored position in the White House, but rubbed many in the Pentagon the wrong way.

Though Cartwright is said to have been source of the Stuxnet revelations, he wasn’t charged with disclosing classified information — but for lying to investigators about it.</s>President Barack Obama has commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning. Manning, who was sentenced to 35 years in 2013, will be released on May 17.

This is a developing story. Please check back for more information.</s>WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning and pardoned James Cartwright.

Manning was convicted of stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of documents and videos to WikiLeaks.

She will be freed from prison on May 17, 2017 instead of in 2045.

Manning, a transgender woman and former US Army soldier, was serving a 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth, an all-male Army prison in eastern Kansas, despite her request to transfer to a civilian prison.

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

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

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

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

Earlier this month, WikiLeaks said it would agree to a US extradition request for the site’s founder, Julian Assange, if Obama granted clemency to Manning. It was not immediately clear if WikiLeaks would make good on its promise.

More than 117,000 people signed an online petition in Dec. 2016 that sought a commutation of Manning’s sentence.

“Chelsea has already served more time in prison than any individual in United States history who disclosed information in the public interest,” the petition read. “Her disclosures harmed no one.”

Obama shortened the sentences for 209 inmates and granted 64 pardons on Tuesday.

According to the White House, President Obama issued the most grants of commutation by any president in the nation’s history. He’s now reduced sentences for 1,385 people. The majority of those people were serving crimes for crimes related to drug sales and distribution. He’s also pardoned an additional 212 people.

“These 273 individuals learned that our nation is a forgiving nation, where hard work and a commitment to rehabilitation can lead to a second chance, and where wrongs from the past will not deprive an individual of the opportunity to move forward,” read a statement on the White House website.

This is a developing story, check back for updated information.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama commuted the prison sentence of Chelsea Manning on Tuesday, allowing the convicted Army leaker to go free nearly three decades early as part of a sweeping move to offer clemency in the final days of his administration.

Manning, who will leave prison in May, was one of 209 inmates whose sentences Obama was shortening, a list that includes Puerto Rican nationalist Oscar Lopez-Rivera. Obama also pardoned 64 people, including retired Gen. James Cartwright, who was charged with making false statements during a probe into disclosure of classified information.

“These 273 individuals learned that our nation is a forgiving nation,” said White House counsel Neil Eggleston, “where hard work and a commitment to rehabilitation can lead to a second chance, and where wrongs from the past will not deprive an individual of the opportunity to move forward.”

Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, has been serving a 35-year sentence for leaking classified government and military documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. She asked Obama last November to commute her sentence to time served.

Manning has spent more than six years behind bars. She was convicted in military court in 2013 of six violations of the Espionage Act and 14 other offenses for leaking more than 700,000 documents and some battlefield video to WikiLeaks.

She was known as Bradley Manning at the time of her 2010 arrest and is being held at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Manning was an intelligence analyst in Iraq and has acknowledged leaking the documents, but has said it was done to raise public awareness about the effects of war on civilians.

She attempted suicide twice last year, according to her lawyers, citing her treatment at Leavenworth.

Chase Strangio, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing Manning, said the president’s action “quite literally save Chelsea’s life.”

“We are all better off knowing that Chelsea Manning will walk out of prison a free woman, dedicated to making the world a better place and fighting for justice for so many,” Stangio said in a statement.

The U.S. Army declined to comment.

Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, received a pardon, the White House said. He pleaded guilty in October to making false statements during an investigation into a leak of classified information about a covert cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Prosecutors said Cartwright falsely told investigators that he did not provide information contained in a news article and in a book by New York Times journalist David Sanger, and said he also misled prosecutors about classified information shared with another journalist, Daniel Klaidman.

The Justice Department sought a sentence of two years, saying employees of the U.S. government are entrusted each day with sensitive classified information.

“They must understand that disclosing such information to persons not authorized to receive it has severe consequences,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed this month.

Commutations reduce sentences being served but don’t erase convictions. Pardons generally restore civil rights, such as voting, often after a sentence has been served.

Most of the other people receiving commutations were serving sentences for nonviolent drug offenses.

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Vivian Salama, John Hanna, Eric Tucker and Danica Cota contributed to this report.
The President of the United States Barack Obama commutes the bulk of the sentence for Chelsea Manning for leaking documents to WikiLeaks. Manning will now be released in 2017 instead of 2045.