Chelsea Manning seeks a presidential pardon

Chelsea Manning is seeking a presidential pardon for sending classified information to WikiLeaks, which she says she did “out of a love for my country and sense of duty to others”, according to documents released today.

The army private’s lawyer, David Coombs, sent the Petition for Pardon to President Barack Obama through the US Justice Department, and to the Army Secretary, John McHugh.

The White House said last month that any request by Manning for a presidential pardon would be considered like any other.

Manning, who was previously known as Bradley Manning, has declared a desire to live as a woman and wishes to be known as Chelsea. She is serving a 35-year sentence for disclosing the classified military and diplomatic information while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2010. It was the largest leak of classified material in US history.

Reuters