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Manning’s conviction, 35-year sentence upheld

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An Army general has upheld Private Chelsea Manning's conviction and 35-year prison sentence for giving reams of classified U.S. government information to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, the Army said Monday.

The approval by Maj. Gen. Jeffery S. Buchanan, commander of the Military District of Washington, clears the way for an automatic appeal to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals.

Manning's appellate lawyers, Nancy Hollander and Vincent Ward, told supporters Sunday in Washington that they expect to argue that the sentence unreasonable. It is the longest prison term ever given by a U.S. court for leaking government secrets to the media. They said they also expect to argue that Manning's speedy trial rights were violated, that the Espionage Act was misused and that high-ranking commanders improperly influenced her case.

The 26-year-old Crescent, Okla., native, is serving her sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. She was sentenced in August for six Espionage Act violations and 14 other offenses for leaking more than 700,000 secret military and State Department documents, plus battlefield video, while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2009 and 2010.

Buchanan, as commander of the jurisdiction in which the trial was held, could have thrown out or reduced the court-martial results. He approved the findings Friday, the Military District of Washington said in a written statement.

Emma Cape, campaign organizer for the Chelsea Manning Support Network, said Buchanan "has ignored the many grave injustices in this case."

She also called for protests of the Obama administration's refusal to consider Manning's request for presidential clemency until after the appeals have played out a process that could take years.

During Manning's trial last summer at Fort Meade, Md., military prosecutors called her an anarchist hacker and traitor who indiscriminately leaked information she had sworn to protect, knowing it would be seen by al-Qaida. It was among the largest leaks of classified information in U.S. history.

Manning supporters call her a whistleblower who exposed U.S. war crimes and diplomatic hypocrisy. Manning has said she hoped the leaks would spark debate about the role of the military and U.S. foreign policy in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Manning, then known as Bradley Manning, was convicted in July of 20 crimes but acquitted of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy, which carried a life sentence. After sentencing, Manning declared a desire to live as a woman named Chelsea, having been diagnosed with gender dysphoria by two military mental-health experts.

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Manning's conviction, 35-year sentence upheld

Private Chelsea Manning’s Conviction, 35-year Sentence Upheld

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WASHINGTON -

An Army general is upholding Private Chelsea Manning's conviction and 35-year prison sentence for giving reams of classified U.S. government information to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

The Military District of Washington said Monday that Major General Jeffery Buchanan has taken final action in the court-martial of the former intelligence analyst from Crescent, Oklahoma.

Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning, was convicted in July 2013 of 20 crimes, including six violations of the Espionage Act, but was acquitted of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy. As commander of the jurisdiction in which the trial was held, Buchanan could have approved or reduced the court-martial findings.

His action clears the way for an automatic appeal to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals.

Manning's appellate lawyer said the sentence was excessive compared to past cases.

7/30/2013 Related Story: Bradley Manning's Hometown Reacts To WikiLeak Case Verdict

With good behavior, the 26-year-old former soldier could be released as early as February 2020, according to her trial attorney, David Coombs.

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Private Chelsea Manning's Conviction, 35-year Sentence Upheld

No Clemency for Chelsea Manning

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A general has refused to reduce the sentence on the former U.S. Army intelligence analyst convicted as Bradley Manning of leaking classified documents.

The Pentagon said Monday that Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan approved the 35-year sentence, rejecting a request for clemency. Manning, who now goes by the name Chelsea and has said she is female, is being held at the U.S. Military Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth.

Manning was convicted by a military judge of leaking 250,000 diplomatic cables and 500,000 military documents to WikiLeaks while serving in Iraq. Published material from his leaks is credited with helping kickstart the Arab Spring demonstrations since it included U.S. cables giving an unflattering picture of former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Col. Denise Lind acquitted Manning of aiding the enemy but found him guilty of most other charges and sentenced him to 35 years.

Nancy Hollander, Manning's lawyer, said she had not expected much from the automatic military appeal process. She said she plans to continue appeals.

President Obama has said he will not make any decision on executive clemency until Manning's appeals are exhausted, a process that could outlast his presidency.

Manning is seeking court approval of the name change in Kansas.

[Politico]

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Original headline: General rejects clemency appeal for Manning in leak of classified documents

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No Clemency for Chelsea Manning

U.S. Army Rejects Clemency for WikiLeaks Source Manning

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Politics Military Army Private First Class Bradley Manning is escorted out of a military court facilityduring the sentencing phase of his trial Aug. 20, 2013 in Fort Meade, Maryland. Mark WilsonGetty Images

The U.S. Army has declined a request for clemency from the soldier formerly known as Bradley Manning, who was convicted last year of leaking a massive amount of classified government data to the whistle-blowing group WikiLeaks.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchannan approved the 35-year sentence handed down by Judge Denise Lind in Mannings court martial in August 2013. Buchannans decision was issued Thursday but announced to the public Monday.

Manning was convicted of 20 separate offenses, including violations of the Espionage Act, but acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy, which carried a sentence of up to life in prison. The 35-year sentence levied against Manning is the longest sentence imposed on someone for leaking information to the media in American history.

Manning and her supporters are also pursuing other avenues to reduce the leakers punishment, including a clemency request with President Barack Obama and a military appeals process that could terminate in the U.S. Supreme Court.

At the time of her conviction, Manning was known by the first name Bradley. She has since formally requested a name change to Chelsea and indicated to the public that she identifies as female.

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U.S. Army Rejects Clemency for WikiLeaks Source Manning

Edward Snowden’s prize

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Edward Snowden didnt win a Pulitzer on Monday, but he might as well have.

In a move certain to be interpreted as a vindication of the former government contractors efforts, the Pulitzer Prize Board on Monday awarded The Guardian US and The Washington Post its coveted Public Service award for reporting on the National Security Agencys domestic surveillance practices.

The award was given for the revelation of widespread secret surveillance by the National Security Agency, marked by authoritative and insightful reports that helped the public understand how the disclosures fit into the larger framework of national security, the committee said in its release. Sig Gissler, the Pulitzer Prize administrator, announced the winners shortly after 3 p.m. at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

(Also on POLITICO: 2014 Pulitzer Prize winners)

Snowden immediately declared the decision a vindication.

Todays decision is a vindication for everyone who believes that the public has a role in government, he said in a statement to The Guardian. We owe it to the efforts of the brave reporters and their colleagues who kept working in the face of extraordinary intimidation, including the forced destruction of journalistic materials, the inappropriate use of terrorism laws, and so many other means of pressure to get them to stop what the world now recognizes was work of vital public importance.

Martin Baron, the executive editor of the Washington Post, told POLITICO, None of this would have been possible without Snowdens release of classified information. I understand thats a source of controversy, but without his disclosures there would be no discussion of the shift from the rights of the individual to state power, no debate about the balance between privacy and national security.

(Earlier on POLITICO: Snowden looms over Pulitzer Prizes)

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger similarly championed Snowdens efforts, telling staff, The public service in this award is significant because Snowden performed a public service.

The reporting on the former government contractors leaks was led by journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewan McAskill at The Guardian, Barton Gellman at the Post, and Laura Poitras, who worked with both newspapers.

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Edward Snowden's prize

Snowden says papers’ Pulitzer Prizes are vindication that NSA leaks were right thing to do

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NEW YORK National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden says giving the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service to those who reported on the U.S. government's sweeping surveillance efforts is "vindication."

Snowden issued a statement Monday through the Freedom of the Press Foundation congratulating The Washington Post and The Guardian on their awards for stories based on documents he provided. He became a board member of the nonprofit organization earlier this year.

Snowden says awarding the top prize in U.S. journalism to his colleagues is "a vindication for everyone who believes that the public has a role in government."

He adds that the reporters he worked with faced "extraordinary intimidation" and other pressure to get them to stop reporting.

Snowden added: "Their work has given us a better future and a more accountable democracy."

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Snowden says papers' Pulitzer Prizes are vindication that NSA leaks were right thing to do

Out in the Open: Inside the Operating System Edward Snowden Used to Evade the NSA

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Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

When NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden first emailed Glenn Greenwald, he insisted on using email encryption software called PGP for all communications. But this month, we learned that Snowden used another technology to keep his communications out of the NSAs prying eyes. Its called Tails. And naturally, nobody knows exactly who created it.

Tails is a kind of computer-in-a-box. You install it on a DVD or USB drive, boot up the computer from the drive and, voila, youre pretty close to anonymous on the internet. At its heart, Tails is a version of the Linux operating system optimized for anonymity. It comes with several privacy and encryption tools, most notably Tor, an application that anonymizes a users internet traffic by routing it through a network of computers run by volunteers around the world.

Snowden, Greenwald and their collaborator, documentary film maker Laura Poitras, used it because, by design, Tails doesnt store any data locally. This makes it virtually immune to malicious software, and prevents someone from performing effective forensics on the computer after the fact. That protects both the journalists, and often more importantly, their sources.

The installation and verification has a learning curve to make sure it is installed correctly, Poitras told WIRED by e-mail. But once the set up is done, I think it is very easy to use.

Originally developed as a research project by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Tor has been used by a wide range of people who care about online anonymity: everyone from Silk Road drug dealers, to activists, whistleblowers, stalking victims and people who simply like their online privacy.

Tails makes it much easier to use Tor and other privacy tools. Once you boot into Tails which requires no special setup Tor runs automatically. When youre done using it, you can boot back into your PCs normal operating system, and no history from your Tails session will remain.

The Tails Development Team

The developers of Tails are, appropriately, anonymous. All of WIREDSs questions were collectively and anonymously answered by the groups members via email.

Theyre protecting their identities, in part, to help protect the code from government interference. The NSA has been pressuring free software projects and developers in various ways, the group says, referring to a a conference last year at which Linux creator Linus Torvalds implied that the NSA had asked him place a backdoor in the operating system.

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Out in the Open: Inside the Operating System Edward Snowden Used to Evade the NSA

Heartbleed denial reveals loophole for NSA spying

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The US National Security Agency has denied it knew about or exploited the Heartbleed security flaw, but government officials have revealed a loophole that would allow such actions.

Researchers have warned that the flaw affects two-thirds of internet sites and could allow attackers to monitor all data exchanged with users.

A White House official also denied that any part of the US government was aware of the bug before it was reported by security researchers at Google and Finnish security firm Codenomicon in April 2014.

The denial came after a Bloomberg News reported alleging the NSA used the flaw in OpenSSL to harvest data since the flaw was introduced two years ago.

But, senior US administration officials have revealed that President Obama has introduced a loophole that the NSA could exploit in future, according to a report in the New York Times.

While Obama has decided that the NSA should go public when it discovers major flaws in Internet security, it does not have to do so in the event of "a clear national security or law enforcement need".

The loophole is likely to allow the NSA to continue to exploit security flaws to crack encryption on the Internet and to design cyber weapons, the paper said.

Whistleblower Edward Snowden has alleged that the NSA deliberately introduced flaws in security software, but a German programmer has accepted responsibility for the Heartbleed bug.

Robin Seggelmann told The Sydney Morning Herald that he had introduced the flaw in OpenSSL through a programming error when contributing to the open source project in December 2011.

The bug exposes only 64K of data at a time, but a malicious party could theoretically make repeated grabs until they had the information they wanted such as usernames and passwords.

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NSA stories take Pulitzer prize

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NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. REUTERS/Glenn Greenwald/Laura Poitras/The Guardian

Reuters won in international reporting for its coverage of the violent persecution of a Muslim minority in Myanmar who in efforts to flee often fall into the hands of brutal human-trafficking networks.

The celebrated prizes, awarded by Columbia University, are the most respected in US journalism and can bring badly needed attention and recognition to newspapers and websites suffering from economic pressures and budget constraints.

The prize-winning work by the Guardian US and The Washington Post in the Pulitzer's public service category was based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who revealed details of global electronic surveillance by the US spy agency.

Reporting on the leaks not only sparked international debate over the limits of government surveillance but prompted President Barack Obama to introduce curbs on NSA spying powers.

"We are particularly grateful for our colleagues across the world who supported the Guardian in circumstances which threatened to stifle our reporting," Guardian Editor in Chief Alan Rusbridger said in a statement.

"And we share this honor, not only with our colleagues at The Washington Post, but also with Edward Snowden, who risked so much in the cause of the public service which has today been acknowledged by the award of this prestigious prize," he said.

Russia granted Snowden temporary asylum last year after the US Justice Department charged him with violating the Espionage Act.

In giving Reuters its first Pulitzer for text coverage, the board commended Jason Szep and Andrew R.C. Marshall for their "courageous reports" on the Rohingya, who in their efforts to flee the Southeast Asian country often fall victim to human-trafficking networks.

"For two years, Reuters reporters have tirelessly investigated terrible human-rights abuses in a forgotten corner of the Muslim world, bringing the international dimensions of the oppressed Rohingya of Myanmar to global attention," Stephen Adler, Reuters editor-in-chief, said in a statement.

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NSA stories take Pulitzer prize


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