Trump 'troubled' by Manning commutation

Trump 'troubled' by Manning commutation

Manning (top left) will go free in May, while Snowden (bottom left) remains stranded in Moscow and Assange is in the Ecuadoran embassy in London but considering surrending to US authorities. (Agency photos)
Manning (top left) will go free in May, while Snowden (bottom left) remains stranded in Moscow and Assange is in the Ecuadoran embassy in London but considering surrending to US authorities. (Agency photos)

WASHINGTON - The incoming Trump administration criticised President Barack Obama's commutation of the 35-year prison sentence for Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst convicted of leaking classified material.

Meanwhile, WikiLeaks said its founder Julian Assange could travel to the US to face investigation after the Manning commutation - but only if his rights were "guaranteed".

"Assange is still happy to come to the US provided all his rights are guaranteed," WikiLeaks said on Twitter, the day after US President Barack Obama commuted a prison sentence for former soldier Chelsea Manning.

Obama did not grant a pardon to another prominent leaker, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, whom the US has been unable to extradite from Russia.

Russian authorities have extended Edward Snowden's residence permit by a "couple of years," a government spokesperson said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the announcement in a Facebook post late Tuesday. The state-owned news agency TASS said his permit was extended until 2020.

Snowden hasn't formally applied for clemency, though his supporters have called for it. Yet the White House drew a distinction between the unapologetic Snowden and Manning. Manning, officials noted, has expressed remorse and served several years already for her crime.

Donald Trump's spokesman, Sean Spicer, said that the president-elect was "troubled by this action" and that there was "a bit of irony and double standard" on the part of the president, who has expressed outrage and aggressively investigated government leaks. White House spokesman Josh Earnest lobbed his own accusation of hypocrisy at Republicans for defending WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who published Manning's leaked material.

Obama announced Tuesday he would shorten Manning's sentence. She was convicted in 2013 and will now be released in May. Earnest told reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor that Obama made the decision "in the pursuit of justice" and that the length of Manning's sentence, which was significantly longer than others convicted of similar crimes, was a factor in the president's decision.

Manning was arrested in 2010 after leaking 700,000 military files and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.

Born Bradley Manning, she has twice attempted to commit suicide while incarcerated, and went on a hunger strike in an effort to force the Army to allow her to undertake gender reassignment surgery. Two separate leaks by Manning and by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden during Obama's presidency together were among the largest thefts and releases of US government secrets in history.

Republicans have roundly joined Trump in criticizing Obama, arguing that Manning endangered the lives of US troops, diplomats and intelligence officers. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, called the commutation "outrageous" and said her "treachery put American lives at risk."

Earnest said that Republicans criticizing the commutation are hypocritical because they support Trump, who has defended WikiLeaks and Assange.

"I'm tempted to say that this is an astonishing display of intellectual dishonesty," Earnest said. But "it's actually just par for the course from them."

Assange had said he would agree to extradition to the US if Obama commuted Manning's sentence. WikiLeaks said on Twitter today that "Assange is still happy to come to the US provided all his rights are guaranteed despite White House now saying Manning was not quid-quo-pro. [sic]"

Manning's commutation was part of a clemency push in the closing days of the administration, and Obama has now shortened the sentences of 1,385 federal inmates, more than any other president. The vast majority of 209 commutations and 64 pardons issued on Tuesday were for nonviolent drug offenses. More clemency decisions are expected Thursday.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (2)