Obama shortens Chelsea Manning’s sentence

President Barack Obama today commuted the sentences of 209 inmates—including the U.S. Army intelligence analyst convicted of passing secret documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. A military court sentenced Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison in 2010. Manning, who legally changed his name to Chelsea in 2014, will be freed on May 17, after serving nearly seven years at Fort Leavenworth. The former intelligence officer persuaded the government in 2015 to provide hormone treatment as part of his transition from male to female. Despite receiving the treatments, Manning has attempted suicide twice in the last year. He would have been eligible for parole in about two more years. As part of today’s announcement, Obama also pardoned 64 people, including retired Gen. James Cartwright, who was charged with making false statements during a probe into disclosure of classified information.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.