Calls for Manning Case Dismissal After Prosecution Botches Document Handover

Army Accuses Private of 'Assisting al-Qaeda'

Pfc. Bradley Manning’s attorney David Coombs is pressing for a dismissal of the case against him today, arguing that the prosecution had botched handover of documents in such a “hopeless” manner that the trial could not continue.

The prosecutors appeared to confirm the botching, saying that they had installed a spam filter that filtered out references to WikiLeaks in any email, an odd choice since the case centers around Manning’s alleged role in WikiLeaks leaks. The filter was apparently common on federal computers, supposed to prevent anything related to the cables from getting to government employees.

It is just the latest in a long line of failures in the handling of Manning, who has been in custody for over two years pending charges. The Army prosecutors today accused Manning of having assisted al-Qaeda.

Which is also an odd choice, since the military and the Obama Administration have repeatedly downplayed the significance of the leaks, and indeed the defense case centers in part around statements that there was no harm at all done by the leaks.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.