{"id":411813,"date":"2017-01-18T20:27:19","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T18:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nhub.news\/?p=411813"},"modified":"2017-01-18T20:27:19","modified_gmt":"2017-01-18T18:27:19","slug":"obamas-release-of-chelsea-manning-serves-justice-white-house-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nhub.news\/fr\/2017\/01\/obamas-release-of-chelsea-manning-serves-justice-white-house-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama\u2019s release of Chelsea Manning serves \u2018justice,\u2019 White House says"},"content":{"rendered":"

$\"NewsHub\"$ The White House said Wednesday that President Obama granted clemency for transgender military secrets leaker Chelsea Manning \u201cin pursuit of justice,\u201d and accused congressional Republicans of hypocrisy for criticizing the commutation.
\u201c Chelsea Manning was convicted of serious crimes,\u201d said White House press secretary Josh Earnest . \u201cShe also took responsibility for those crimes. She expressed remorse for those crimes.\u201d
He said Manning \u2019s 35-year prison term was \u201cmuch longer than the sentence that was handed down to people who committed similar crimes that got much less attention.\u201d
Mr. Obama ordered Manning to be released from prison on May 17. She was due to be kept behind bars until 2045.
The commutation for Manning was among more than 200 grants of clemency that Mr. Obama issued on Tuesday, three days before he leaves office.
Republican leaders in Congress blasted Mr. Obama\u2019s commutation for Manning , saying that his action will encourage future leakers of classified national security information. The thousands of documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as diplomatic cables, were published by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange after Manning stole them.
Mr. Earnest, speaking to reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, said Mr. Obama commuted the prison sentence of Manning \u201cin pursuit of justice.\u201d Advocates said the transgender former Army analyst being held in a male federal prison has tried to commit suicide twice.
He blasted GOP lawmakers for criticizing Mr. Obama, saying they also supported President-elect Donald Trump and his \u201ctrashing\u201d of patriotic U. S. intelligence agents.
\u201cThose are the same Republicans on Capitol Hill who endorsed a man for president who praised Wikileaks and defended the integrity of Julian Assange, even as he was trashing the patriotic men and women who work in the United States intelligence community,\u201d Mr. Earnest said.
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