Chelsea Manning had been sentenced to 35 years for leaking military secrets to WikiLeaks. President Obama commuted the sentence shortly before leaving office. AP hide caption

Chelsea Manning had been sentenced to 35 years for leaking military secrets to WikiLeaks. President Obama commuted the sentence shortly before leaving office.

Donald Trump took aim at Chelsea Manning in an early morning tweet on Thursday.

The tweet appears to refer to an op-ed published in The Guardian on Thursday morning, in which former Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning criticizes former President Obama as having been too willing to attempt compromise with his political opponents and being insufficiently progressive. She did not, however, call Obama a "weak leader" in so many words, as Trump's tweet might suggest.

Manning leaked hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks in 2010 and was subsequently sentenced to a 35-year prison term. After seven years in prison for Manning, President Obama commuted that sentence last week, just before leaving office.

Manning acknowledged that Obama's opponents were unusually obstinate, writing that the former president "faced unparalleled resistance from his opponents, many of whom wanted him to fail." However, Manning excoriated Obama for, in her eyes, compromising too much on health care and foreign policy, and she called for "a strong and unapologetic progressive" to lead the United States.

It wasn't clear whether Trump's tweet was intended to come to Obama's defense Trump, after all, has slammed the former president on many occasions. Rather, it may have been an opportunity to both criticize Manning and draw attention to criticism of Obama criticism coming from someone whom Obama recently prevented from serving around 28 more years in prison, no less.

Likewise, it's not clear whether Trump's tweets were inspired directly by the Guardian column. The tweets came minutes after a Fox News report that could easily have prompted them, as CNN's Brian Stelter tweeted.

Reporting on the column, Fox and Friends First's Abby Huntsman said that "the disgraced former Army private is slamming President Obama as a weak leader with few permanent accomplishments," while the words "ungrateful traitor" appeared at the bottom of the screen, as Mediaite pointed out.

This wouldn't be the first time that Trump's tweets correlate with Fox News segments. As BuzzFeed's Brandon Wall pointed out earlier this week, a recent tweet about violence in Chicago may also have been inspired by a segment on the O'Reilly Factor.

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President Trump Calls Chelsea Manning An 'Ungrateful ...

"Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!" Trump wrote in a post.

Trump appeared to be responding to an op-ed in the Guardian that Manning shared on Twitter on Wednesday in which she wrote that Obama's presidency had been insufficiently progressive.

"Takeaway from the @BarackObama legacy: What we need is a strong #unapologeticprogressive to lead us," Manning wrote in a tweet that linked to her piece.

Manning's op-ed does not specifically call Obama a "weak leader," but Trump's tweet was sent minutes after a Fox News discussion aired, which featured a banner that read "UNGRATEFUL TRAITOR," and Fox News commentator Abby Huntsman described Obama "as a weak leader with few permanent accomplishments."

Manning, a transgender woman, was serving a 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth, having been convicted of stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of documents and videos to WikiLeaks. But she was stationed at an all-male Army prison in eastern Kansas, despite her request to transfer to a civilian prison.

Chase Strangio, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Manning, said he was "relieved and thankful" Obama commuted her sentence, and Amnesty International also cheered news of Manning's commutation. Obama's White House released a statement last week saying her prison sentence is set to expire on May 17.

Trump was harshly critical of government leaks during his presidential campaign, even as he repeatedly praised WikiLeaks for disseminating damaging documents that were stolen from the rival campaign of Hillary Clinton. In response to the news that Manning had been pardoned during Obama's final week, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that Trump was "troubled" by the commutation.

CNN's Brian Stelter, Sara Murray and Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.

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Trump calls Chelsea Manning 'ungrateful TRAITOR' after Obama ...

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Friday, December 30, 2016, 4:15 PM

WASHINGTON - Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning have asked President Obama for clemency, though it's unlikely either one will receive a break.

The two high-profile leakers took government data and shared it publicly for what they believed to be patriotic reasons.

Marine Corps Gen. James Hoss Cartwright and ex-CIA officer John Kiriakou are also seeking clemency, according to Politico.

Manning is six years into a 35-year prison sentence a much longer term than any previous leakers convicted under the Espionage Act for giving WikiLeaks classified information relating to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Snowden is living in exile in Russia after releasing classified information that showed the U.S. government was involved in widespread data collection on American citizens, and faces espionage charges if he returns.

Chelsea Manning's petition surpasses 100,000 signatures

The Obama administration has shown no signs that either will get a pardon or offer of clemency. The President has cracked down on government leaks during his time in office, and following the Russian-backed hacks that disrupted the 2016 election, it appears even less likely that Obama will want to show leniency as he leaves office.

Read this article:
Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning ask Obama for clemency

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Sunday, December 11, 2016, 6:52 PM

U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Mannings petition calling on President Obama to reduce the remainder of her 35-year prison sentence exceeded its goal of 100,000 signatures as of Sunday, which would require the White House to respond.

We did it! Thank you so much for your love and support, Manning, 28, tweeted late Saturday.

Mannings petition created on Nov. 14 could get an official White House response within 60 days.

I don't know what to say. I am just grateful that I am not forgotten. You've given me hope, she tweeted in another post Sunday.

Army doctor doesn't recommend changing Chelsea Mannings gender

The transgender U.S. soldier, formerly known as Bradley Manning, was arrested in 2010 for leaking more than 700,000 State Department documents to WikiLeaks while she served in the military.

Those documents revealed many military secrets, including a 2007 Baghdad airstrike that killed civilians, information about Guantanamo detainees and Iraq War logs.

She was convicted in military court in 2013 for violating the Espionage Act, which prohibits people to convey information that could harm the U.S. armed forces.

After her conviction, Manning announced that she identified as a transgender woman and underwent hormone treatment behind bars in 2015.

Chelsea Manning attempts suicide for second time

Manning, in a statement to the New York Times, said she took full and complete responsibility for her actions, which she called wrong.

The sole relief I 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, Manning said through her lawyer to the Times.

The former Army veteran attempted suicide for a second time in October at Fort Leavenworth, Kans., after her failed suicide attempt in July led her to solitary confinement, according to the Associated Press.

President Obama, as you and the medical community have recognized, prisoners who face solitary confinement are more likely to commit suicide, Mannings petition states.

President Obama has less than 40 days to respond to Manning before president-elect Donald Trump gets sworn in on Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read this article:
Chelsea Manning's petition surpasses 100,000 signatures

Imprisoned U.S. soldier Chelsea Manning US Army - AFP - Getty Images

Manning was arrested in 2010 for leaking more than 700,000 military and State Department documents to Wikileaks and sentenced to 35 years in 2013 in military court. At the time she was known as Bradley Manning and has been held in a men's prison facility.

President Obama and his administration have 39 more days in office before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

The American Civil Liberties Union

"The sole relief that Ms. Manning is seeking is to be released from military prison after serving over six years of confinement longer than any whistleblower in the history of our country," the ACLU said in the letter which was co-signed by more than a dozen gay-rights groups.

Manning's lawyers formally petitioned President Obama to commute her sentence in November, according to a statement

A military doctor treating Manning

Manning

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Chelsea Manning Petition Reaches Threshold for White House ...

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Chelsea Manning | Democracy Now!

Army Pfc. Chelsea Manning poses for a picture wearing a wig and lipstick in this undated picture provided by the U.S. Army.

AP Photo/U.S. Army

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A military prison psychologist is refusing to recommend that Chelsea Mannings gender be officially changed to female in her Army employee-benefits file.

Lawyers for the transgender solider imprisoned for leaking classified information made the assertion in a federal court filing Monday in Washington.

The document says the chief of mental health at the Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, prison recently declined Mannings request. Manning contends she has achieved stability in her female gender.

The document doesnt say why psychologist Ellen Galloway declined the request.

Mannings lawyers say an Army policy enabling soldiers to officially change their gender does not provide an avenue for Manning to do so unless she is released or receives transgender surgery.

Her lawsuit seeks a court order allowing Manning to wear her hair longer than two inches.

Play Video

Chelsea Manning has gone on a hunger strike. The transgender soldier is imprisoned in Kansas for leaking classified information to Wikileaks. CBS...

Meanwhile, on Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union and gay-rights groups lobbied President Barack Obama to commute the prison sentence of Manning.

The ACLU said the letter Monday co-signed by more than a dozen civil rights groups considers Mannings 35-year sentence unprecedented.

Attorneys on behalf of Manning made a similar pitch last month for commutation.

Manning was arrested in 2010 and convicted in 2013 in military court of six Espionage Act violations and 14 other offenses for leaking more than 700,000 secret military and State Department documents, plus some battlefield video to WikiLeaks. At that point she was known as Bradley Manning.

She later filed a transgender prisoner rights lawsuit and has tried to commit suicide at least twice, citing her behind-bars treatment.

2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Chelsea Manning transgender status not recognized by military ...

A military prison psychologist has refused to recommend that Chelsea Manning's gender be changed to female in her Army service record, complicating the transgender soldier's quest to wear a feminine hairstyle at the men's prison where she is serving a 35-year sentence for leaking classified information, according to a court document.

Manning's American Civil Liberties Union lawyers disclosed the decision in a filing Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The document says the chief of the Mental Health Division at the Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, prison declined Manning's Nov. 4 request to update her gender in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System. The filing says Manning made the request "based on her having achieved stability in her female gender."

The document doesn't say why psychologist Ellen Galloway refused. Army spokesman Wayne Hall declined to comment Tuesday, citing medical privacy laws.

Manning has tried to commit suicide behind bars at least twice, in July and October, according to her lawyers. In a Nov. 8 application asking President Barack Obama to commute her sentence to time served, Manning wrote, "I am living through a cycle of anxiety, anger, hopelessness, loss and depression," citing her treatment at Leavenworth.

The White House confirmed Tuesday that it had received an ACLU letter supporting the commutation request but declined to comment further.

The court document filed Monday is a status report from both sides on Manning's lawsuit seeking a court order allowing her to wear her hair longer than 2 inches, the maximum length prison standards allow for men.

In the report, Manning's lawyers say a new Army policy enabling soldiers to officially change genders does not provide a way for Manning to do so unless she is released, so that she can obtain the required documents, or receives transgender surgery.

Manning's lawyers said in September that the Army has agreed to provide the surgery. U.S. Justice Department lawyers say in the status report that the government is assembling a team to assess Manning's current treatment plan and make any necessary adjustments.

The Army private formerly known as Bradley Manning was convicted in a 2013 court-martial of leaking more than 700,000 secret military and State Department documents to WikiLeaks while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. Manning said she leaked the documents to raise awareness about the war's impact on innocent civilians.

__

Associated Press Writer Jim Suhr in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this report.

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Court filing: In Army's eyes, Chelsea Manning still a man ...

The Army judge presiding at the Sept. 11 terror trial has added a new adviser to his staff the former military judge who presided at the 2013 court martial of Private Chelsea Manning.

Retired Army Col. Denise R. Lind, who finished her career this month on the Armys Court of Criminal Appeals, has been hired by the Pentagon division responsible for the war court here as a senior attorney adviser. She will work with the Military Commissions Trial Judiciary, whose chief is Army Col. James L. Pohl, the 9/11 judge.

Both are here for this weeks effort to get pretrial hearings back on track in the Sept. 11 conspiracy case after one of the five alleged conspirators in the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil expressed interest in serving as his own lawyer at the complex death-penalty trial.

As an Army judge, Lind presided over the court martial of Manning then Bradley Manning and convicted the soldier of violating the Espionage Act by leaking more than 700,000 government files to the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks. Manning had opted for a judge-only trial rather than have the case heard by a military jury.

Lind then sentenced Manning to 35 years in prison. Linds sentence was more lenient than the 60 years proposed by Army prosecutors.

The New York Times at the time described the sentence as the longest ever handed down in a case involving a leak of United States government information for the purpose of having the information reported to the public.

At the trial, Lind had ruled that Mannings conditions were too severe during his 2010-2011 detention at the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia, where he was at times denied clothing and kept in a windowless cell 23 hours a day, awarding him 112 days off his sentence.

Among the documents Manning was convicted of leaking were the 2006-08 military profiles of most of the 780 or so war-on-terror captives held across the years at the Guantnamo Bay detention center. They are marked SECRET and offered a window into the thinking of prison and military intelligence staff compiling the dossiers in those years, as well as the information at that time about the captives identities, capture and behavior at the prison.

The alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his four alleged accomplices were among them.

So, in joining the judges team, Lind comes from a recent, complicated high-profile national security trial that involved abusive conditions of confinement to an even more complicated, high-profile national security trial that alleges torture. In both cases, public interest groups have fought for greater transparency.

New York attorney Michael Ratner, president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, observed portions of the Manning trial and sued on behalf of the civil liberties legal group to secure the release of unclassified rulings and motions in the case as swiftly in federal court.

On Wednesday, Ratner described Lind as a pro-government judge, and her sentence for Manning severe.

Lind relied on court-martial practice that withheld much of the public record until after the trial was over. So Ratners team went to federal court.

She read her orders out at such speed that we could not follow, he recalled. I don't think this bodes well for shaking up the 9/11 trials and making them more law compliant, if that is even possible.

Lind has also taught a law course at George Washington University Law School called The Craft of Judging, according to the schools associate dean for academic affairs, Lisa Schenck.

Schenck, a former Army colleague, described the colonel as an avid runner and model of fairness in a 2013 Washington Post profile ahead of the Manning trial.

Shell go through every bit of evidence and every element of proof, and she will be 100 percent sure that the government meets its burden, Schenck told the Post. She is the most thorough person that you could put on that trial.

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Army judge in Chelsea Manning case now working at Guantnamo ...

These are the latest photographs of me from February 2015 the week I began HRT. | Courtesy of the author

The last few weeks have been particularly challenging for me. For the first time in years, I felt like giving up... then, I found my "second wind" to be human.

I wasn't sure I was ever going to write this article. Recently, on the evening of September 18, I finally decided that maybe I should quit, to give up on everything and everyone: my family, my friends, my supporters, my court-martial appeal, and my other legal battles -- even my articles for the Guardian and my Medium debut. Basically, I nearly surrendered.

You see, that evening I found out that the military was going to force me to keep my hair cut very short, to the "male" hair standard.

I didn't take the news well. I felt sick. I felt sad. I felt gross -- like Frankenstein's monster wandering around the countryside avoiding angry mobs with torches and pitch forks.

I wanted to run away. I wanted to close the door to my cell, turn out the lights, and shun the world outside. I did exactly that. And then I cried, and cried, sniffled a little bit, and then cried some more. This went on until around midnight.

I wanted to cry myself to sleep on the concrete floor, but a guard came by twice and started asking me if I was okay. "Yes, I'm fine," I said. I was not okay, though. It wasn't his fault; he was just a young guy, maybe 20 years old, I thought to myself.

Then I started to think really dark thoughts. You know, "emo"-goth stuff, like "black isn't dark enough of a color for me."

After five years -- and more -- of fighting for survival, I had to fight even more. I was out of energy.

I called Chase Strangio, my ACLU lawyer, and I cried. As my legal counsel, he represents me in this lawsuit to challenge the hair policy that makes and treats me like a monster or a problem. But I just wanted love and support, and someone to cry to when I was feeling alone. He did such a wonderful job just listening to me.

After feeling devastated, humiliated, hurt, and rejected-- and after wanting to give up on the world -- I found my "second wind" of sorts.

I can make it just a little longer. I just hope it's not too much longer.

I hope to use this platform as a place to document my experience and share my story and, maybe even begin a conversation. Going through such a seismic, existential shift in my life -- transitioning in a military prison -- presents real, meaningful, and daily challenges. I want to hear your thoughts and questions so we can continue to have a dialogue. I also look forward to reading the stories you are brave enough to share with the world so we can understand each other and define ourselves on our own terms.

This post first appeared on Medium. Cross-posted with permission of the author.

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Military Haircuts | Chelsea Manning