Obama and Pentagon Head Clash Over Chelsea Manning’s Early Release

Defense Secretary Ash Carter is not happy with President Obama’s decision to commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former army intelligence analyst and now transgender woman who compromised national security.

After leaking hundreds of thousands of documents to Wikileaks about U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Manning was was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Disregarding Carter’s recommendations, Obama’s controversial decision to commute Manning’s sentence is contrary to what he said in 2011.

“If I was to release stuff, information that I’m not authorized to release, I’m breaking the law. We’re a nation of laws. We don’t individually make our own decisions about how the laws operate… He broke the law.”

Manning has currently served seven years of her sentence.

Obama’s decision would allow for Manning to walk free on May 17, ending what was the longest conviction for a leak of classified information.

Manning is one of 209 people granted commutations and one of 64 people who were given pardons by Obama on Tuesday.

Pentagon Head Clashed Fiercely With Obama Over Manning Release

DAILY CALLER, January 18, 2017

Defense Secretary Ash Carter strongly opposed President Barack Obama’s decision to commute the sentence of former Army soldier and transgender person Chelsea Manning, in effect allowing Manning to walk free on May 17.

A U.S. official said that Carter opposed the decision in no uncertain terms, even though the administration in the end pushed the move through for two main reasons, the first being that Manning had already served seven years and the second that Manning showed remorse and accepted responsibility, according to ABC News.

On defense-related matters, Obama has repeatedly run up against the recommendations of those he has tapped to lead the Pentagon, which is one of the reasons why he’s been through four different secretaries of defense.

Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, was convicted and sentenced in 2013 to 35 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of documents about U.S. military’s activities in Afghanistan and Iraq to WikiLeaks.