Chelsea Manning, the Wikileaks source and government whistleblower who was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013, has formally petitioned President Obama to commute her sentence, the New York Times reports.
Manning, a U.S. Army private who was known as Bradley Manning at the time, pleaded guilty to a number of charges after leaking nearly 700,000 documents containing government secrets, though she was not found guilty of the most serious charge against her, aiding the enemy, which could have meant a life sentence.
She has served more than six years of her current sentence. Even if she was released now, that's more time served than any other whistleblower in U.S. history.
The formal petition from Manning's lawyer to Obama is available online here and runs a full 27 pages. Here's an excerpt:
The petition also includes a statement from Manning herself. Here's part of that:
Manning has struggled in prison. Earlier this month it was reported that she'd made a second suicide attempt while in solitary confinement.
Obama had commuted the sentences of a record 872 people as of late October, far more than any other president. According to the Department of Justice's clemency statistics, as of Oct. 1 there were 1,920 pending applications for pardon and 11,355 for commutation. Obama's last day in the White House is Jan. 20.
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