Obama commutes Bradley Manning’s sentence, Chelsea Manning free and pardons James Cartwright, Willie McCovey
President Obama on Tuesday commuted all but four months of the remaining prison sentence of Bradley Manning, now named Chelsea Manning, the Army intelligence analyst convicted of a 2010 leak that revealed American military and diplomatic activities across the world. The dangerous document dump went to Wikileaks, the target of attacks during the 2016 Election as the outlet released hacked emails.
Critics say this move is hypocritical.
“Responding to pressure and self-righteous indignation by liberal activists and far-left anarchists who have been circulating Change.org petitions for a number of months now, Obama has effectively let Manning off the hook,” writes the Daily Wire. “While Democrats have insisted that their sudden interest in Kremlin-sponsored hacking is premised on their concern for US national security and democratic integrity, Obama’s latest power play, releasing an army traitor who has done more to damage the future success of military operations and counter-intelligence, has been welcomed by Democrats as a triumph of freedom.
“The hypocrisy is quite frankly astounding.”
Obama also pardoned James E. Cartwright, the retired Marine general and former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who pleaded guilty to lying about his conversations with reporters to FBI agents investigating a leak of classified information about cyberattacks on Iran’s nuclear program.
““It allows General Cartwright to continue his life’s work — to serve, protect and defend the nation he loves. It allows the nation to continue to benefit from his vast experience and knowledge,” said Cartwright’s lawyer, Gregory Craig, a former White House counsel to Obama.
Private First Class Bradley Manning leaked sensitive documents he acquired as an army intelligence analyst. These documents included names, locations and sensitive details regarding the War on Terror in the Middle East. Manning now identifies as a female, Chelsea, attempting suicide twice during the seven year imprisonment.
Puerto Rican nationalist/terrorist Oscar Lopez Rivera had his sentence commuted as well. Obama also granted 63 other pardons and 207 other commutations, mostly for drug offenders. Rivera was a leader in FALN, Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional, a Marxist, nationalist group linked to bombings in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.
Famous San Francisco Giant Willie McCovey was pardoned for his tax evasion charges dating back to the late 80’s and early 90’s.