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It's no pardon, but it will do:
President Obama has put Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst serving a 35-year sentence for leaking classified material, on his short list for a possible commutation, a Justice Department source told NBC News. A decision could come [...] for Manning, who has tried to commit suicide twice this year and went on a hunger strike in a bid for gender reassignment surgery.
"I have more hope right now than I have the entire time since she was sentenced," Manning's aunt, Deborah Manning, told NBC News.
[...] Manning's supporters believe the harshness of the sentence can be traced to another leaker; the scandal around former NSA contractor Edward Snowden was erupting around the same time. "I really believe the judge felt she needed to send some sort of message," the aunt said. "I think in a way she was a scapegoat for Edward Snowden." Snowden, who has asked Obama for clemency, tweeted his support of Manning shortly after NBC News' report about the commutation decision aired on TODAY on Wednesday morning.
Four former and current Army intelligence officers told NBC News the documents leaked by Manning pale in significance to highly classified top secret material released by Snowden. The officers, who would not allow their names to be used, said the Manning sentence seems excessive.
Also at The Hill.
Time magazine adds:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will agree to be extradited to the U.S. if President Obama grants whistle-blower Chelsea Manning clemency before his term ends on Jan. 20, the organization has said.
In a tweet posted on the group's official account Thursday, WikiLeaks said Assange would not oppose extradition to the U.S. "despite [the] clear unconstitutionality" of any potential criminal complaints that the Justice Department may have against the whistle-blower website, if U.S. Army private Manning is released.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday January 14 2017, @06:51PM
So long as he does it right outside your apartment complex I'm all for it :D
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday January 14 2017, @07:12PM
January 20th is a Friday, which makes for good conditions of a Chimpout because those rabblerousers who work can call out sick or show up before or after work. I'll be okay because I'm in a DMZ between a nice part of town and a bad one and cops look after their White baby-boomers (many of whom are former police or military, and one is an FBI agent). Anything South of the 'boulevard, as well as East Village, will become a warzone though. South of the 'boulevard is the same 'hood where a cop was shot point-blank in the face and the newspaper remarked that the bag of McDonalds in his car was still warm when his buddies found his body.
There is a lot of multiculturalism closeby, which means lots of Blacks and Hispanics (and the impulse-control problems they bring). I'm confident I can get a reasonably safe front-row seat to see the action unless the police set up a barricade. Who knows, maybe there could be an outstanding Soylentnews journal about it?
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 15 2017, @12:09AM
Good man *salute* Make sure you get up reeeeeeeal close, and let everyone know exactly what you think of them. And dial your buddies in hell and tell them to have some tupperware ready for when you make it down there in freezer-friendly-meal-sized chunks.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...