Update Chelsea Manning: Freedom in May

President Obama on Tuesday largely commuted the remaining prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the army intelligence analyst convicted of an enormous 2010 leak that revealed American military and diplomatic activities across the world, disrupted the administration and made WikiLeaks, the recipient of those disclosures, famous.

[...]

Under the terms of Mr. Obama’s commutation announced by the White House on Tuesday, Ms. Manning is set to be freed on May 17 of this year rather than in 2045.

[...]

The decision by Mr. Obama rescued Ms. Manning, who twice tried to kill herself last year, from an uncertain future as a transgender woman incarcerated at the men’s military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. She has been jailed for nearly seven years, and her 35-year sentence was by far the longest punishment ever imposed in the United States for a leak conviction.

[...]

A senior administration official said the 120-day delay was part of a standard transition period for commutations to time served, and was designed to allow for such steps as finding a place to live after her release.

  NYT

I suggest somewhere outside the country for safety's sake.

WH Spokesperson Josh Earnest was asked about the President's refusal to grant clemency to Ed Snowden.

"While their offenses were similar, he said, there were “some important differences.”

“Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing,” he said. “Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy.”

Still peddling that bullshit about Snowden choosing to go to Russia.

The main difference guiding the decisions, I would submit, are that the government got its chance to seriously punish Manning, who was busted immediately and bowed to power with an apology, and Ed Snowden unapologetically made fools of them and got away. For that, he will never be forgiven.

Meanwhile, Leonard Peltier is still in prison.