Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was taken into custody Friday after refusing to testify in the grand jury investigation of WikiLeaks. U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton had Manning jailed for contempt of court following Manning's refusal to testify.
Objecting to the secrecy involved in the grand jury process, Manning claimed to have already provided sufficient testimony at the court martial.
BREAKING: Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning ordered to jail for refusing to testify to a Virginia grand jury investigating Wikileaks. https://t.co/VEc5MHHEtm
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 8, 2019
Manning, who is transgender and was formerly Bradley Manning, rose to national prominence after getting convicted in 2013 for giving classified government and military documents to WikiLeaks. Manning served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq and was arrested in 2010.
After serving seven years of a 35-year military sentence, then-President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s sentence in 2017 as one of his final acts as president. Manning was released from a military prison in Kansas in May 2017.
Manning's lawyers have reportedly asked that Manning be sent to home confinement instead of jail, because of medical complications. However, U.S. Marshals said they could handle Manning’s medical needs.
Manning anticipated the arrest on Twitter Thursday.
tomorrow i’m facing a sealed contempt hearing for refusing to testify at a secret grand jury over my 2010 disclosures
— Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) March 7, 2019
statement: pic.twitter.com/M1uhssUzXh