Pvt. Chelsea Manning released after spending 7 years in prison
CBS News confirms that Pvt. Chelsea Manning, the transgender soldier convicted of giving classified government materials to WikiLeaks, has been released from a Kansas military prison Wednesday morning after serving seven years of her 35-year sentence.
President Barack Obama granted Manning clemency in his final days in office in January. Though she's set to be released from Fort Leavenworth, Manning's lawyers and the Army have refused to say when and how she'll be freed due to potential security concerns.
Manning, who was known as Bradley Manning before transitioning in prison, was convicted in 2013 of 20 counts, including six Espionage Act violations, theft and computer fraud. She was acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy.
The Crescent, Oklahoma, native tweeted after being granted clemency that she plans to move to Maryland. Neither she nor her attorneys explained why, but she has an aunt who lives there.
Manning, a former intelligence analyst in Iraq, has acknowledged leaking the materials, which included battlefield video. She said she wanted to expose what she considered to be the U.S. military's disregard of the effects of war on civilians and that she released information that she didn't believe would harm the U.S.
Critics said the leaks laid bare some of the nation's most-sensitive secrets and endangered information sources, prompting the State Department to help some of those people move to protect their safety. Several ambassadors were recalled, expelled or reassigned because of embarrassing disclosures.
Manning, who was arrested in 2010, filed a transgender rights lawsuit in prison and attempted suicide twice last year, according to her lawyers.
Obama's decision to commute Manning's sentence to about seven years, including the time she spent locked up before being convicted, drew strong criticism from members of Congress and others, with Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan calling the move "just outrageous."
In a statement last week — her first public comments since Obama intervened — Manning thanked that former president and said that letters of support from veterans and fellow transgender people inspired her "to work toward making life better for others."
"For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea," she said. "I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world. Freedom used to be something that I dreamed of but never allowed myself to fully imagine."
Her attorneys have said Manning was subjected to violence in prison and argued the military mistreated her by requiring her to serve her sentence in an all-male prison, restricting her physical and mental health care and not allowing her to keep a feminine haircut.
In a tweet shortly after her release, Manning wrote "first steps of freedom" and "#chelseaisfree" with a photo marking the moment.
Late Wednesday, Manning again took to social media to celebrate her freedom with this post on Instagram:
The Department of Defense has repeatedly declined to discuss Manning's treatment in prison.
Army officials on Tuesday said Manning will remain on active duty in a special status after her scheduled release from prison.
"Manning will remain on excess leave while the court-martial conviction is under appellate review," army spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Jennifer Johnson, said in a statement to CBS News.
In that status she will be unpaid, but will be legally entitled to military medical care.
"In an active-duty status, although in an unpaid status, Manning is eligible for direct care at medical treatment facilities, commissary privileges, morale welfare and recreation privileges, and exchange privileges," Johnson said in a written statement.
