Army document leaker Chelsea Manning is on President Obama’s short list for a possible sentence commutation, NBC News reported Wednesday.
The decision could reportedly come as soon as Wednesday, the network reported, citing a Justice Department source.
From The Hill
“I have more hope right now than I have the entire time since she was sentenced,” Manning’s aunt, Deborah Manning, told NBC News. “I do think it’s the last hope for a while.”
Manning, a former Army analyst, was sentenced to 35 years in prison after leaking thousands of classified documents related to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to WikiLeaks.
Manning pleaded guilty to the charges and apologized to the court before sentencing.“I’m sorry,” Manning said at the time. “I’m sorry that my actions hurt people. I’m sorry that they hurt the United States.”
“I understand that I must pay the price for my decisions and actions.”
Manning, who is transgender, asked Obama for clemency in November, citing harsh treatment in jail, which she said led to suicide attempts.
Manning’s lawyers argued she has already served the longest sentence of “any other whistleblower in American history” and that Obama should be influenced by the harsh conditions she has been subjected to while in prison.
A petition asking the president to commute Manning’s prison sentence reached the threshold last month to receive a response from the White House.
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