Manning goes free

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A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of convicted WikiLeaks leaker Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning. The former U.S. Army soldier served about a year in prison for refusing to testify to a grand jury about the WikiLeaks investigation. Manning still faces more than $256,000 in fines.

Why did the judge let Manning go? The grand jury that subpoenaed Manning had disbanded, and U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga canceled a federal court hearing scheduled for Friday in Alexandria, Va. Manning’s legal team on Wednesday revealed that the former intelligence analyst had tried to commit suicide and was transported to a hospital. A military court in 2010 sentenced Manning to 35 years in prison for leaking thousands of classified documents, but President Barack Obama commuted that sentence.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Nick Eicher’s WORLD Radio report on how the LGBT agenda drove Manning’s first release.

Rachel Lynn Aldrich

Rachel is a former assistant editor for WORLD Digital. She is a Patrick Henry College and World Journalism Institute graduate. Rachel resides with her husband in Wheaton, Ill.