[Updated at 11:54 a.m. ET] The Army private accused of leaking millions of government files has offered to plead guilty to some of the charges against him, his attorney announced Thursday.
Pfc. Bradley Manning has been jailed for more than two years on allegations that he downloaded hundreds of thousands of pages of documents while serving as a military intelligence analyst in Iraq and handed that trove to website WikiLeaks. The offer was made in a hearing held on Wednesday, his attorney, David Coombs, wrote on his firm's website.
"To clarify, PFC Manning is not pleading guilty to the specifications as charged by the government. Rather, PFC Manning is attempting to accept responsibility for offenses that are encapsulated within, or are a subset of, the charged offenses," the lawyer's website posting said. "The court will consider whether this is a permissible plea."
WikiLeaks has never confirmed that Manning was the source of the documents, which the site began publishing in 2010. He has been accused of wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the Internet, knowing that it was accessible to the enemy and multiple counts of theft of public records.
Check out this CNN Security Clearance post on why Manning might make this type of plea offer.
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Frankly, I hope they don't accept the plea and burn this guy at the stake.
As someone who previously did a very similar job, there is NO excuse for leaking classified material, after you have specifically signed about 49 security agreements promising not to. He was trusted to keep the secrets of this nation, and he decided he did not want to.
And being angry that you are a gay guy and do not like your life in the Army is not a reason for leaking.
The only difference between what he did and "treason" is that he did not give the information to a "foreign power", and instead essentially leaked it to the whole world.
He belongs under the jail.
Agree. 100%.
Yes, it seems what he did was almost as bad a deserting the military (ok the Air National Guard), and leaking the name of an undercover CIA agent.
That's what Valerie Plame said too.
Sad that he was too young and acted so stupidly, he was with the best branch and acted like he was safe to do anything but he was just a dummy, not even a soldier- its possible there is nothing else to say but it seems like the stuff children do to get attention not this catastrophe he and the others created - as far as what got leaked that is truly a set back on the outfit he represents I cant imagine why he is so wreckless and stupid and represents some of the very best soldiers in America-Why?I hope he doesnt get life for this crap but hes probably to dumb to figure people get killed when you give all their information to the enemy- no happy ending here. How much did it cost all us taxpayers?
Manning was fully aware that any information he provided would be made public. Since he was definitely trained that this particular enemy certainly does monitor pubic information, what Manning did WAS treason. All this would have been in his training before he signed the agreement to not divulge military information to anyone without a need to know.
Your government lies to you on a daily basis and when someone gives out the truth you get mad? America isnt under any threat and has not been for numerous years. Why don't you go look at how many wars the US has started. You people always think you guys are the victims when your not. Manning did nothing wrong, wake up and tell your governement that they need to declassify some files
I agree with this. There are those who are afraid of the truth. And for one frankly its about time someone has the right idea to release the truth. I for one don't think that they should be charging him with anything, if that's the case than more of our public officials should be in the court room on trial or in jail instead of being in capital hill.
Exposing government corruption is one thing....downloading and distributing military secrets that potentially put our nation and our troops in harms way is something else entirely. Manning isn't some Champion of Justice against Corruption...he's a punk who threw a hissy-fit because he didn't like the job he willfully signed up to do.
Cruz – In the military you are subject to military laws PERIOD. he broke that law regardless of your beliefs and he also took an oath, which a civialian like you whispers but does not stand by. He understood what he was doing was wrong snd therefore should understand the consequences. No plea will save him.
A nuclear Iran, a nuclear North Korea, Al queda, the taliban – If these are not threats to the US then what meets your criteria? If convicted this guy should be put in front of a firing squad for endangering the lives of those Americans that put themselves in harm's way on a daily basis so that you can retain the right to spew this kind of crap!
Bush and Cheney took oaths too.
Life in prison would be to good for this trader.
Traitor not someone that works in the trades.
Deport him to Mexico
Cruz – In the military you are subject to military laws PERIOD. he broke that law regardless of your beliefs and he also took an oath, which a civialian like you whispers but does not stand by. He understood what he was doing was wrong snd therefore should understand the consequences. No plea will save him.
So you are saying that even if the military is doing things that are illegal and/or morally and ethically wrong, it is your duty to go along with it? I think the Mai Lai massacre trial questioned that position. What about the Pentagon Papers leak? Very much like this one in that it exposed lies and illegality by the government and military. Daniel Ellsberg rightly got off, but Bradley Manning has been psychologically tortured for two years in prison so far.
Cruz, best not speak of issues that in and of with you have no experience or knowledge.
Simple fact of the matter is, you have no idea what you are talking about.
He's pleading to some of the charges to keep a needle out of his arm – simple as that.
Manning does not realize that offering to give a guilty plea for some of the charges will not make any of the other charges go away. The military does not play let's make a deal like civilian prosecutors do. In fact the burden of proof is so much lower in a military court, they have absolutely no need to accept his "plea deal".
Little traitor deserves life since he was definitely trained about how a security breach could cost soldiers THEIR lives. He knew the information would be made public & he was well aware that the enemy would obtain it. He knew, & he violated his security agreement. Let him rot in prison.
I support Bradley Manning 100%. To me, he is a hero because I CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH.
You CANNOT handle the truth. If you could, you would want him shot, for outing our sources that disappeared after being dragged out of bed with their whole families by our enemy.
PFC Manning exposed the lies of the Bush administration to help stop the war in Iraq and Afganistan. He is a modern day Paul Revere in my opinion.
The lies of the bush administration? Really? As a soldier who was deployed in Iraq, I find it very hard to believe that Manning exposing the routes of my convoys and details about my unit has anything to do with Bush at all – rather, it put me and others in my unit and future units at greater personal risk. Further, Manning had no idea what he was leaking. He blindly copied and dumped thousands of files, most of which he probably never read or even glanced at before sticking it out for everyone to see. That's hardly a targeted approach to expose an administration's lies. It's a blanket attack on our military and government as a whole.
The more that little worm wriggles, the deeper the hook goes in! The only justsice he needs is a firing squad.
Have you even read the Wikileaks material? Sounds like a big "no."
If this traitor gets reduced charges, and Assange gets to skate free to South America or where ever, what's to keep the next traitor from finding it "worth it" to sell his countrymen out?
For that I guess we better ask Bush and Cheney.
Whatever.. as long as they take him out to a firing squad after I'm fine with it.
Why is he a traitor and Daniel Ellsberg is a hero?
Because our media is now owned by the corporations that support the government. We don't get real news from the mainstream newspapers and media anymore, just stories that placate us and keep us from looking for the truth.
When is the execution of this traitor?