WikiLeaks: ‘Trump is wrong’ on Chelsea Manning
WikiLeaks on Thursday said President Trump was “wrong” to criticize former Army soldier Chelsea Manning as an “ungrateful traitor” who should not have been released from prison.
“Trump is wrong,” WikiLeaks tweeted in response to a tweet from the president earlier Thursday morning.
“Manning was found innocent of ‘aiding the enemy’ & Pentagon admitted under oath no-one harmed.”
WikiLeaks in a subsequent post pointed to a tweet from Trump last July when he blasted both former President Obama and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
“Trump denounces Manning for agreeing with him. Compare,” WikiLeaks posted.
{mosads}The president on Thursday ripped Manning, whose prison sentence was commuted by Obama shortly before leaving office.
“Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!” Trump tweeted.
Manning in her first column since Obama commuted her sentence said Obama had “few permanent accomplishments.”
“This vulnerable legacy should remind us that what we really need is a strong and unapologetic progressive to lead us. What we need as well is a relentless grassroots movement to hold that leadership accountable,” she wrote in The Guardian.
“The one simple lesson to draw from President Obama’s legacy: do not start off with a compromise. They won’t meet you in the middle,” she added.
Manning was convicted in 2013 of leaking classified information about U.S. national security activities that were later disclosed by WikiLeaks.
The 35-year sentence Manning received was the longest ever imposed for a leak conviction. She was originally set to be released in 2045.
WikiLeaks had celebrated Obama’s decision to commute Manning’s sentence as a victory.