Chelsea Manning: Ex-soldier files to run for US Senate in Maryland

The 30-year-old was convicted of the largest classified leak in US history

Former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning took aim at the Trump administration, hinting towards the military's disregard for civilian casualties in her Veteran's Day message. (AFP/Getty)

Chelsea Manning, the transgender Army whistleblower who served seven years for leaking material to Wikileaks, is running for the US senate from Maryland.

Federal election filings show that Ms Manning, 30, is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for a seat currently held by Ben Cardin, who has served two terms and said to be a favourite to win a third in November.

Reuters said Ms Manning did not immediately respond to requests for a comment. Mr Cardin also did not comment.

Ms Manning was in 2013 convicted of the largest leak of classified documents in US history and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Last year, then President Barack Obama commuted her sentence to time served and she was released from a military prison in Kansas.

Reports said Ms Manning moved to Maryland after her release and friends and family raised more than $175,000 to support her through an online campaign.

The Washington Post said Mr Cardin, who is Maryland’s senior senator, is not considered especially vulnerable to a challenge from within the state. It said, however, an outside candidate with national name recognition, such as Manning, could tap a network of donors interested in elevating a progressive agenda.

Mr Cardin was easily re-elected in 2012, beating his Republican challenger by 30 points in the heavily-Democratic state.

Ms Manning was working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. She was convicted by court-martial of espionage and for providing more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.

Among the material was a now notorious video that showed an incident from 2007 when a US Apache attack helicopter attacked upon individuals in a Baghdad suburb. Amongst the over twelve people killed by the 30mm cannon-fire were two members of staff working for the Reuters news agency.

Mr Manning came out as transgendered shortly after her sentencing, but the military denied her request for hormone therapy treatment while behind bars. She was placed in solitary confinement after twice trying to kill herself.