Accused WikiLeaks leaker Bradley Manning offered in a motion hearing on Wednesday to plead guilty to parts of the charges he faces, in exchange for government prosecutors pursuing lesser charges.
According to statement issued by Manning’s attorney, David Coombs, Manning “is not pleading guilty to the specifications as charged by the Government. Rather, PFC Manning is attempting to accept responsibility for offenses that are encapsulated within, or are a subset of, the charged offenses. The Court will consider whether this is a permissible plea.”
The lesser charges are ones “that the judge could agree upon if there is no evidence for the more severe charges,” reports Kevin Gosztola. “Pleading to lesser-included offenses makes it possible to not plea to committing offenses under the Espionage Act or Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Importantly, he can plead guilty without accepting the government’s charge that he ‘aided the enemy’ or ‘exceeded authorized access’ on his computer.”
Almost one year ago, when Manning’s hearings were just beginning, Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg said Manning should be let free for the same reason he was.
“I was the first to face the kind of charges that he’s facing, under the Espionage Act,” Ellsberg said. “In the end, my trial was ended because of gross governmental misconduct against me under President Nixon. This court-martial should be ended now for exactly the same reason.”
Considering his civil rights were violated in Marine Corp custody and he has been imprisoned since the Iraq War ended, he should be set free. Bradly Manning never betrayed America, He made America proud by standing for Human Rights, Freedom Honor. Maybe that is why they hate him, he betrayed the Military Industrial complex's ability to cover up War Crimes. Bradly
Manning is the most popular American on Earth, not Obama.
Poor little chap. Uncle Sam is standing on his head and twisting things in his groin area.
Uncle Sam will broke no damn whistle-blowers. No, Mum is the word. It's unpatriotic to tell the truth, spoils the 'exceptional' claim and the 'saving the world' claim.
If the world knew all the truth about the U.S. it would be shocked out of its mind. We know so little!
I wonder if Manning will be required to implicate Assange as part of the deal.
My understanding is that Manning and Assange have never had any direct communication. Manning just mailed (or e-mailed) his info to the Wikileaks address to no one's attention.
Tortured into submission. In the USSR during the authoritarian Communist era, enemies of the state would be paraded in show trials confessing to anything and everything as a result of torture. This is now the US.
I think the US military is in need of a few "purges" of its own.