Brad Manning Hearing - Day 3

U.S. government rests case against WikiLeaks suspect.

  Raw Story

Well that didn’t take long.

US Army Private Bradley Manning, accused of one of the most serious intelligence breaches in US history, came face-to-face on Tuesday with the man who turned him in to the authorities.

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In [...] online conversations, which have been published by Wired.com, Manning talked about supplying classified US material to a “crazy white-haired Aussie,” an apparent reference to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

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Asked why he contacted the US authorities after Manning got in touch with him, Lamo said: “What I saw in those chats was an admission of acts so egregious that it required that response.”

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Under cross-examination from the defense, Lamo acknowledged he had suffered from drug issues in the past, been institutionalized for mental health problems and had pleaded guilty to computer fraud in 2004.

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Earlier Tuesday, the court heard from a former supervisor of Manning, ex-army specialist Jihrleah Showman, who said she had repeatedly recommended that he not be deployed to Iraq with the rest of the unit in November 2009.

She recounted several emotional outbursts involving Manning and said she had suggested that he receive behavioral health treatment, that his access to classified information be revoked and that he not be deployed to Iraq.

Hmmmm….that sounds like a witness for the defense, not the prosecution. And Lamo (great name) doesn't make them look very good. 

You felt he had a very elevated level of paranoia?” defense attorney David Coombs asked.

“Correct,” Showman replied.

Asked if she had any idea whether Manning’s “paranoia” was due to “gender identity disorder,” Showman said there was “no indication of that.”

And why was this person on the stand during the prosecution’s turn when the prosecution is trying to claim Manning's "gender identity disorder" is the root of all evil?

Prosecutors also asked Showman about a fight with Manning some three weeks before his arrest, an incident which led to his removal from their workspace.

“He was removed because he attacked, he punched me in the face, unprovoked, and displayed an uncontrollable behavior that was deemed untrustworthy at the time,” she said.

Oh.

Perhaps the prosecution should have spent a little more time with her before trial, anyway.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.