Bradley/Chelsea Manning bio and recent news on Julian Assange

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Click here for the current Wikipedia article on Bradley/Chelsea Manning

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With respect to Manning's appeal, the court found in 2018, "Manning had no First Amendment right to make the disclosures – doing so not only violated the nondisclosure agreements Manning signed but also jeopardized national security."

The First Amendment (Amendment 1) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws which regulate an establishment of religion, prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, or the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.

Latest News 2020
On January 10 2020, Manning's mother Susan was discovered drowned in her bath with a significant level of alcohol in her blood, after her sister's husband called police when there was no answer at her house (in Wales). She was 65. Coroner Paul Bennett said he could not find any evidence of suicidal intent and concluded Ms Manning's death was accidental, having "drowned in the bath while heavily intoxicated".
In February 2020, Manning's lawyers filed a motion in court renewing their request that Manning be released from jail, on the grounds that Manning's incarceration was an unlawful punitive sanction serving no purpose because Manning would never be coerced into testifying.

At midday on Wednesday March 11, two days before a federal judge was to render a ruling on the matter of ongoing incarceration, a suicide "incident" occurred (no details specified) which required Manning's hospitalization.

On March 12, 2020, the judge found that the business of the grand jury had concluded, that detention no longer served any coercive purpose, and ordered Manning be released. He denied a request by Manning's lawyers to vacate the accrued fines of $256,000, which he ordered due and payable immediately.

That same day, a supporter launched an online crowdfunding campaign to defray Manning's fines. Within 48 hours, nearly 7,000 donations ranging from $5–$10,000 were received, totaling $267,000. A separate crowdfund by the same supporter raised an additional $50,000 to help pay Manning's post-incarceration living expenses.

Year ▲▼ Details

1987 Born Bradley Edward Manning on December 17, 1987 at Crescent, Oklahoma USA. Manning was the second child of Susan Fox, originally from Wales, and Brian Manning, an American. Brian had joined the United States Navy in 1974, at the age of 19, and served for five years as an intelligence analyst. Brian met Susan while stationed in Wales at RAF Brawdy. Manning's much older sister, Casey Manning, was born in 1976. The couple had returned to the United States in 1979, settling first in California. After their move near Crescent, Oklahoma, they bought a house with 5 acres (2 hectares) of land, where they kept pigs and chickens and Manning was born.
Manning's sister Casey told the court-martial that both their parents were alcoholics, and that their mother drank continually while pregnant with Bradley/Chelsea. Captain David Moulton, a Navy psychiatrist, told the court that Manning's facial features showed signs of fetal alcohol syndrome. Casey became Manning's principal caregiver, waking at night to prepare the baby's bottle. The court heard that Manning was fed only milk and baby food until the age of two. As an adult Manning reached 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) and weighed around 105 pounds (48 kg).
Manning's father took a job as an information technology (IT) manager for a rental car agency, The Hertz Corporation, which required travel. The family lived several miles out of town, and Manning's mother was unable to drive. She spent her days drinking, while Manning was left largely to fend on own, playing with Lego or on the computer. Brian would stock up on food before his trips, and leave pre-signed checks that Casey mailed to pay the bills. A neighbor said that whenever Manning's elementary school went on field trips, she would give her own son extra food or money so he could make sure Manning had something to eat. Friends and neighbors considered the Mannings a troubled family.

1998 Susan's instability continued, and in 1998 she attempted suicide; Manning's sister drove their mother to the hospital, with the 11-year-old Manning sitting in the back of the car trying to make sure their mother was still breathing.
Manning's father divorced Susan and remarried in 2000. By now, Manning and mother Susan had moved out of the house to a rented apartment in Crescent, Oklahoma. Manning's father's new wife, also named Susan, had a son from a previous relationship. Manning apparently took it badly when the son had his surname changed to be Manning too – taking running jumps at walls and telling mother, "I'm nobody now."

2001 In November 2001, Manning and mother left the United States and moved to Haverfordwest, Wales, where mother had family. Manning attended the town's Tasker Milward secondary school. A school friend there told Ed Caesar for The Sunday Times that Manning's personality was "unique, extremely unique. Very quirky, very opinionated, very political, very clever, very articulate." Manning's interest in computers continued, and in 2003, Manning and a friend, James Kirkpatrick, set up an online message board, angeldyne.com, that offered games and music downloads.
2005 After graduating from high school in 2005 at age 17 and fearing that mother was becoming too ill to cope, Manning returned to the United States and moved in with father, then living in Oklahoma City with his second wife and her child. Manning landed employment as a developer for the software company Zoto. While there, apparently happy; however, was let go after four months, boss telling The Washington Post that on a few occasions Manning had "just locked up" and would simply sit and stare, and in the end, communication became too difficult. The boss told the newspaper that "nobody's been taking care of this kid for a really long time".
2007 Manning's father spent weeks in late 2007 asking Manning to consider joining the Army, hoping to gain a college education through the G.I. Bill.
2008 In August 2008, Manning was sent to Fort Drum in Jefferson County, New York, where Manning joined the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, and trained for deployment to Iraq. In late 2008 while stationed there, Manning met Tyler Watkins, who was studying neuroscience and psychology at Brandeis University, near Boston. Watkins was Manning's first serious relationship, and Manning posted happily on Facebook about it, regularly traveling 300 miles (480 km) to Boston on visits.
Watkins introduced Manning to a network of friends and the university's hacker community. Manning also visited Boston University's "hackerspace" workshop, known as "Builds", and met its founder, David House, the MIT researcher who was later allowed to visit Manning in jail.

2009 After four weeks at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) in Fort Polk, Louisiana, Manning was deployed to Forward Operating Base Hammer, near Baghdad, arriving in October 2009. From Manning's workstation there, there was access to SIPRNet (the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network) and JWICS (the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System). Two of Manning's superiors had discussed not taking Manning to Iraq, it was felt Manning was a risk to self and possibly others, according to a statement later issued by the Army – but the shortage of intelligence analysts dictated their decision to take Manning. In November 2009, Manning was promoted from Private First Class to Specialist.
2010 On January 5, 2010, Manning downloaded the 400,000 documents that became known as the Iraq War logs. On January 8, Manning downloaded 91,000 documents from the Afghanistan database, known later as part of the Afghan War logs. Saved the material on CD-RW and smuggled it through security by labeling the CD-RW media "Lady Gaga". Manning then copied it to personal computer.
Manning copied the files from laptop to an SD card for camera in order to take it to the United States while on R&R leave. Army investigators later found the SD card in Manning's basement room in aunt's home, in Potomac, Maryland. On January 23, Manning flew to the United States via Germany, for two weeks of leave. It was during this visit that Manning first went out dressed as a woman, wearing a wig and makeup. After arrest, Manning's friend Tyler Watkins told Wired that Manning had said during the visit that Manning had found some sensitive information and was considering leaking it.
Manning contacted The Washington Post and The New York Times to ask if they were interested in the material – the Post reporter did not sound interested, and the Times did not return the call. Manning decided instead to pass it to WikiLeaks, and on February 3 sent them the Iraq and Afghan War logs via Tor. Returned to Iraq on February 11, with no acknowledgment from WikiLeaks that they had received the files.
On or around February 18, Manning passed WikiLeaks a diplomatic cable, dated January 13, 2010, from the US Embassy in Reykjavík, Iceland. They published it within hours, which suggested to Manning that they had received the other material, too.
Manning found the Baghdad helicopter attack ("Collateral murder") video in a Judge Advocate's directory and passed it to WikiLeaks on or around February 21. In late March, Manning sent them a video of the May 2009 Granai airstrike in Afghanistan – this was the video later removed and apparently destroyed by Daniel Domscheit-Berg when he left the organization. Between March 28 and April 9, Manning downloaded the 250,000 diplomatic cables and on April 10, uploaded them to a WikiLeaks dropbox.
Manning told the court that, during interaction with WikiLeaks on IRC and Jabber, Manning developed a friendship with someone there, believed to be Julian Assange (although neither knew the other's name), which Manning said made "her feel she could be herself". Army investigators found 14 to 15 pages of encrypted chats, in unallocated space on the MacBook's hard drive, between Manning and someone believed to be Assange. Manning wrote in a statement that "the more she had tried to fit in at work, the more alienated she became from everyone around her. The relationship with WikiLeaks had given her a brief respite from the isolation and anxiety."
Manning was arrested by the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, on May 27, 2010, and transferred four days later to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Moved from Kuwait to the Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on July 29, 2010. Charged with several offenses in July, replaced by 22 charges in March 2011, including violations of Articles 92 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and of the Espionage Act. The most serious charge was "aiding the enemy", a capital offense, although prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty. Another charge, which Manning's defense called a "made up offense but of which she was found guilty", read that Manning "wantonly [caused] to be published on the internet intelligence belonging to the US government, having knowledge that intelligence published on the internet is accessible to the enemy".

2013 On July 30 2013, Manning was convicted of 17 of the original charges and amended versions of four others, but was acquitted of aiding the enemy. Sentenced on August 21 to 35 years at the maximum-security US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth Kansas, reduction in rank to private, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge.
On August 22, 2013, the day after sentencing, Manning's attorney issued a press release to the Today show announcing that his client was a female, and asked that Manning be referred to by the new name of Chelsea and feminine pronouns. An Army spokesman stated that while the Army would update personnel records to acknowledge the name change, the military would continue to regard Manning as a male. Manning sought hormone therapy and the right to live as a woman while confined.

2016 In November 2016, Manning made a formal petition to President Obama to reduce 35-year sentence to the six years of time already served. On December 10, 2016, a White House petition to commute the sentence reached the minimum 100,000 signatures required for an official response.
2017 On January 17, 2017, President Barack Obama commuted Manning's sentence to nearly seven years of confinement dating from the arrest on May 27, 2010. Manning was released from Fort Leavenworth's detention center at approximately 2 am Central Time on May 17, 2017. After release, Manning earned a living until 2019 through speaking engagements.
Notwithstanding the commutation, Manning's military appeal will continue, with the attorney saying, "We fight in Manning's appeal to clear Manning's name.
On September 22, 2017, Manning was denied entry to Canada from the United States because of criminal record. According to a letter from Canadian immigration officials, posted online by Manning, Manning is inadmissible due to being convicted of offenses equivalent to treason in Canada

2018 On January 11, 2018, Manning filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for the US Senate in Maryland. On June 26, 2018, Manning finished second among eight Democrats with 5.7% of the votes. Incumbent Ben Cardin won renomination with 80.5% of the votes cast.
In August 2018, the Government of Australia refused to issue Manning a visa to enter the country, the Department of Home Affairs specified that Manning did not pass the character test because of the "substantial criminal record". On September 2, Manning spoke as scheduled at the Sydney Opera House except that appeared onscreen live via satellite from Los Angeles.
On August 31st 2018, Manning received approval from Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand to visit Auckland and Wellington on Saturday and Sunday (September 8th and 9th 2018). Click here for account in World Socialist media. On October 20, 2018, Manning tweeted a photograph in a hospital bed reportedly recovering from gender reassignment surgery. "After almost a decade of fighting," Manning wrote, "thru prison, the courts, a hunger strike (over five days Sep 9 - Sep 13 2016), and thru the insurance company – I finally got surgery this week."

2019 In February 2019, Manning received a subpoena -the existence of which had been accidentally revealed in November 2018- to testify in a secret US government case against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, which was proceeding under prosecutors in Virginia. Manning condemned the secrecy of the hearings and announced "she would avoid testifying. We've seen this power abused countless times to target political speech. I have nothing to contribute to this case and I resent being forced to endanger myself by participating in this predatory practice." Manning also said "she had provided all the information she had in 2013 during her court martial and that she stood by her previous answers."
On March 8, 2019, Manning was held in contempt of court and jailed in the women's wing of the federal detention center in Alexandria, Virginia.
Manning was released on May 9, 2019, after the grand jury's term expired. Manning was immediately served with another subpoena to appear before a new grand jury on 16 May. Manning was returned to jail for the 18-month term of the grand jury. In addition a fine was imposed of $500 for each day Manning spends in jail over 30 days and $1,000 for each day spent in jail over 60 days. In June 2019, Manning challenged the fines because of inability to pay.
2020 On January 10 2020, Manning's mother Susan was discovered drowned in her bath with a significant level of alcohol in her blood, after her sister's husband called police when there was no answer at her house (in Wales). She was 65. Coroner Paul Bennett said he could not find any evidence of suicidal intent and concluded Ms Manning's death was accidental, having "drowned in the bath while heavily intoxicated".
In February 2020, Manning's lawyers filed a motion in court renewing their request that Manning be released from jail, on the grounds that Manning's incarceration was an unlawful punitive sanction serving no purpose because Manning would never be coerced into testifying.
At midday on Wednesday March 11, two days before a federal judge was to render a ruling on the matter of ongoing incarceration, a suicide "incident" occurred (no details specified) which required Manning's hospitalization.
On March 12, 2020, the judge found that the business of the grand jury had concluded, that detention no longer served any coercive purpose, and ordered Manning be released. He denied a request by Manning's lawyers to vacate the accrued fines of $256,000, which he ordered due and payable immediately.
That same day, a supporter launched an online crowdfunding campaign to defray Manning's fines. Within 48 hours, nearly 7,000 donations ranging from $5–$10,000 were received, totaling $267,000. A separate crowdfund by the same supporter raised an additional $50,000 to help pay Manning's post-incarceration living expenses.

Year ▲▼	Details
1987	Born Bradley Edward Manning on December 17, 1987 at Crescent, Oklahoma USA. Manning was the second child of Susan Fox, originally from Wales, and Brian Manning, an American. Brian had joined the United States Navy in 1974, at the age of 19, and served for five years as an intelligence analyst. Brian met Susan while stationed in Wales at RAF Brawdy. Manning's much older sister, Casey Manning, was born in 1976. The couple had returned to the United States in 1979, settling first in California. After their move near Crescent, Oklahoma, they bought a house with 5 acres (2 hectares) of land, where they kept pigs and chickens and Manning was born. Manning's sister Casey told the court-martial that both their parents were alcoholics, and that their mother drank continually while pregnant with Bradley/Chelsea. Captain David Moulton, a Navy psychiatrist, told the court that Manning's facial features showed signs of fetal alcohol syndrome. Casey became Manning's principal caregiver, waking at night to prepare the baby's bottle. The court heard that Manning was fed only milk and baby food until the age of two. As an adult Manning reached 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) and weighed around 105 pounds (48 kg). Manning's father took a job as an information technology (IT) manager for a rental car agency, The Hertz Corporation, which required travel. The family lived several miles out of town, and Manning's mother was unable to drive. She spent her days drinking, while Manning was left largely to fend on own, playing with Lego or on the computer. Brian would stock up on food before his trips, and leave pre-signed checks that Casey mailed to pay the bills. A neighbor said that whenever Manning's elementary school went on field trips, she would give her own son extra food or money so he could make sure Manning had something to eat. Friends and neighbors considered the Mannings a troubled family.
1998	Susan's instability continued, and in 1998 she attempted suicide; Manning's sister drove their mother to the hospital, with the 11-year-old Manning sitting in the back of the car trying to make sure their mother was still breathing. Manning's father divorced Susan and remarried in 2000. By now, Manning and mother Susan had moved out of the house to a rented apartment in Crescent, Oklahoma. Manning's father's new wife, also named Susan, had a son from a previous relationship. Manning apparently took it badly when the son had his surname changed to be Manning too – taking running jumps at walls and telling mother, "I'm nobody now."
2001	In November 2001, Manning and mother left the United States and moved to Haverfordwest, Wales, where mother had family. Manning attended the town's Tasker Milward secondary school. A school friend there told Ed Caesar for The Sunday Times that Manning's personality was "unique, extremely unique. Very quirky, very opinionated, very political, very clever, very articulate." Manning's interest in computers continued, and in 2003, Manning and a friend, James Kirkpatrick, set up an online message board, angeldyne.com, that offered games and music downloads.
2005	After graduating from high school in 2005 at age 17 and fearing that mother was becoming too ill to cope, Manning returned to the United States and moved in with father, then living in Oklahoma City with his second wife and her child. Manning landed employment as a developer for the software company Zoto. While there, apparently happy; however, was let go after four months, boss telling The Washington Post that on a few occasions Manning had "just locked up" and would simply sit and stare, and in the end, communication became too difficult. The boss told the newspaper that "nobody's been taking care of this kid for a really long time".
2007	Manning's father spent weeks in late 2007 asking Manning to consider joining the Army, hoping to gain a college education through the G.I. Bill.
2008	In August 2008, Manning was sent to Fort Drum in Jefferson County, New York, where Manning joined the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, and trained for deployment to Iraq. In late 2008 while stationed there, Manning met Tyler Watkins, who was studying neuroscience and psychology at Brandeis University, near Boston. Watkins was Manning's first serious relationship, and Manning posted happily on Facebook about it, regularly traveling 300 miles (480 km) to Boston on visits. Watkins introduced Manning to a network of friends and the university's hacker community. Manning also visited Boston University's "hackerspace" workshop, known as "Builds", and met its founder, David House, the MIT researcher who was later allowed to visit Manning in jail.
2009	After four weeks at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) in Fort Polk, Louisiana, Manning was deployed to Forward Operating Base Hammer, near Baghdad, arriving in October 2009. From Manning's workstation there, there was access to SIPRNet (the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network) and JWICS (the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System). Two of Manning's superiors had discussed not taking Manning to Iraq, it was felt Manning was a risk to self and possibly others, according to a statement later issued by the Army – but the shortage of intelligence analysts dictated their decision to take Manning. In November 2009, Manning was promoted from Private First Class to Specialist.
2010	On January 5, 2010, Manning downloaded the 400,000 documents that became known as the Iraq War logs. On January 8, Manning downloaded 91,000 documents from the Afghanistan database, known later as part of the Afghan War logs. Saved the material on CD-RW and smuggled it through security by labeling the CD-RW media "Lady Gaga". Manning then copied it to personal computer. Manning copied the files from laptop to an SD card for camera in order to take it to the United States while on R&R leave. Army investigators later found the SD card in Manning's basement room in aunt's home, in Potomac, Maryland. On January 23, Manning flew to the United States via Germany, for two weeks of leave. It was during this visit that Manning first went out dressed as a woman, wearing a wig and makeup. After arrest, Manning's friend Tyler Watkins told Wired that Manning had said during the visit that Manning had found some sensitive information and was considering leaking it. Manning contacted The Washington Post and The New York Times to ask if they were interested in the material – the Post reporter did not sound interested, and the Times did not return the call. Manning decided instead to pass it to WikiLeaks, and on February 3 sent them the Iraq and Afghan War logs via Tor. Returned to Iraq on February 11, with no acknowledgment from WikiLeaks that they had received the files. On or around February 18, Manning passed WikiLeaks a diplomatic cable, dated January 13, 2010, from the US Embassy in Reykjavík, Iceland. They published it within hours, which suggested to Manning that they had received the other material, too. Manning found the Baghdad helicopter attack ("Collateral murder") video in a Judge Advocate's directory and passed it to WikiLeaks on or around February 21. In late March, Manning sent them a video of the May 2009 Granai airstrike in Afghanistan – this was the video later removed and apparently destroyed by Daniel Domscheit-Berg when he left the organization. Between March 28 and April 9, Manning downloaded the 250,000 diplomatic cables and on April 10, uploaded them to a WikiLeaks dropbox. Manning told the court that, during interaction with WikiLeaks on IRC and Jabber, Manning developed a friendship with someone there, believed to be Julian Assange (although neither knew the other's name), which Manning said made "her feel she could be herself". Army investigators found 14 to 15 pages of encrypted chats, in unallocated space on the MacBook's hard drive, between Manning and someone believed to be Assange. Manning wrote in a statement that "the more she had tried to fit in at work, the more alienated she became from everyone around her. The relationship with WikiLeaks had given her a brief respite from the isolation and anxiety." Manning was arrested by the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, on May 27, 2010, and transferred four days later to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Moved from Kuwait to the Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on July 29, 2010. Charged with several offenses in July, replaced by 22 charges in March 2011, including violations of Articles 92 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and of the Espionage Act. The most serious charge was "aiding the enemy", a capital offense, although prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty. Another charge, which Manning's defense called a "made up offense but of which she was found guilty", read that Manning "wantonly [caused] to be published on the internet intelligence belonging to the US government, having knowledge that intelligence published on the internet is accessible to the enemy".
2013	On July 30 2013, Manning was convicted of 17 of the original charges and amended versions of four others, but was acquitted of aiding the enemy. Sentenced on August 21 to 35 years at the maximum-security US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth Kansas, reduction in rank to private, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge. On August 22, 2013, the day after sentencing, Manning's attorney issued a press release to the Today show announcing that his client was a female, and asked that Manning be referred to by the new name of Chelsea and feminine pronouns. An Army spokesman stated that while the Army would update personnel records to acknowledge the name change, the military would continue to regard Manning as a male. Manning sought hormone therapy and the right to live as a woman while confined.
2016	In November 2016, Manning made a formal petition to President Obama to reduce 35-year sentence to the six years of time already served. On December 10, 2016, a White House petition to commute the sentence reached the minimum 100,000 signatures required for an official response.
2017	On January 17, 2017, President Barack Obama commuted Manning's sentence to nearly seven years of confinement dating from the arrest on May 27, 2010. Manning was released from Fort Leavenworth's detention center at approximately 2 am Central Time on May 17, 2017. After release, Manning earned a living until 2019 through speaking engagements. Notwithstanding the commutation, Manning's military appeal will continue, with the attorney saying, "We fight in Manning's appeal to clear Manning's name. On September 22, 2017, Manning was denied entry to Canada from the United States because of criminal record. According to a letter from Canadian immigration officials, posted online by Manning, Manning is inadmissible due to being convicted of offenses equivalent to treason in Canada
2018	On January 11, 2018, Manning filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for the US Senate in Maryland. On June 26, 2018, Manning finished second among eight Democrats with 5.7% of the votes. Incumbent Ben Cardin won renomination with 80.5% of the votes cast. In August 2018, the Government of Australia refused to issue Manning a visa to enter the country, the Department of Home Affairs specified that Manning did not pass the character test because of the "substantial criminal record". On September 2, Manning spoke as scheduled at the Sydney Opera House except that appeared onscreen live via satellite from Los Angeles. On August 31st 2018, Manning received approval from Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand to visit Auckland and Wellington on Saturday and Sunday (September 8th and 9th 2018). Click here for account in World Socialist media. On October 20, 2018, Manning tweeted a photograph in a hospital bed reportedly recovering from gender reassignment surgery. "After almost a decade of fighting," Manning wrote, "thru prison, the courts, a hunger strike (over five days Sep 9 - Sep 13 2016), and thru the insurance company – I finally got surgery this week."
2019	In February 2019, Manning received a subpoena -the existence of which had been accidentally revealed in November 2018- to testify in a secret US government case against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, which was proceeding under prosecutors in Virginia. Manning condemned the secrecy of the hearings and announced "she would avoid testifying. We've seen this power abused countless times to target political speech. I have nothing to contribute to this case and I resent being forced to endanger myself by participating in this predatory practice." Manning also said "she had provided all the information she had in 2013 during her court martial and that she stood by her previous answers." On March 8, 2019, Manning was held in contempt of court and jailed in the women's wing of the federal detention center in Alexandria, Virginia. Manning was released on May 9, 2019, after the grand jury's term expired. Manning was immediately served with another subpoena to appear before a new grand jury on 16 May. Manning was returned to jail for the 18-month term of the grand jury. In addition a fine was imposed of $500 for each day Manning spends in jail over 30 days and $1,000 for each day spent in jail over 60 days. In June 2019, Manning challenged the fines because of inability to pay.
2020	On January 10 2020, Manning's mother Susan was discovered drowned in her bath with a significant level of alcohol in her blood, after her sister's husband called police when there was no answer at her house (in Wales). She was 65. Coroner Paul Bennett said he could not find any evidence of suicidal intent and concluded Ms Manning's death was accidental, having "drowned in the bath while heavily intoxicated". In February 2020, Manning's lawyers filed a motion in court renewing their request that Manning be released from jail, on the grounds that Manning's incarceration was an unlawful punitive sanction serving no purpose because Manning would never be coerced into testifying. At midday on Wednesday March 11, two days before a federal judge was to render a ruling on the matter of ongoing incarceration, a suicide "incident" occurred (no details specified) which required Manning's hospitalization. On March 12, 2020, the judge found that the business of the grand jury had concluded, that detention no longer served any coercive purpose, and ordered Manning be released. He denied a request by Manning's lawyers to vacate the accrued fines of $256,000, which he ordered due and payable immediately. That same day, a supporter launched an online crowdfunding campaign to defray Manning's fines. Within 48 hours, nearly 7,000 donations ranging from $5–$10,000 were received, totaling $267,000. A separate crowdfund by the same supporter raised an additional $50,000 to help pay Manning's post-incarceration living expenses.

Recent News Julian Assange
Extract from The Australian Apr 12 2020

Click here for the current Wikipedia article.

Assange faces charges under the US Espionage Act for the 2010 release of a trove of secret files detailing aspects of US military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. On November 18 2010 Sweden issued an international arrest warrant for Julian Assange on separate sexual assault charges involving two women, which he denied. He ensconced himself in the Ecuadoran embassy in 2012 after skipping bail to avoid separate legal proceedings in Sweden, but was finally dragged out last year.

Assange has been held in Belmarsh prison in London since then, awaiting an extradition hearing on behalf of the United States, where he is wanted for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks. He has been in poor health for months, but his friends say coronavirus is now spreading through Belmarsh. One prisoner has died, and a number of prison officers are off sick, suspected of having the virus, say his friends.

The exact number of Julian Assange's children is not publicly known. His eldest child, Daniel, was born in 1989 in Australia and became a software designer. Daniel has had little contact with his father since 2007. In 2011, based on WikiLeaks sources, the blog Gawker reported that Assange had at least four children living around the world. In 2015, in an open letter to French President Hollande, he said that one of his children lives in France with the child's mother. In April 2020, Stella Moris-Smith Robertson revealed that she and Assange had two sons.

In a statement to the courts supporting an application for bail, lawyer and mother Moris-Smith Robertson revealed that she met Assange in 2011 when she was a legal researcher, and was asked to look into the Swedish legal theory and practice. The friendship developed, and despite the “extraordinary circumstances”, a close relationship began in 2015, she said. The couple has two young boys, Gabriel, born in 2017, and Max, born in 2019, while Assange was in the embassy. The couple have been engaged since 2017, according to Britain’s Mail on Sunday.

Moris-Smith Robertson wanted the one-time hacker released under British government plans to allow some prisoners temporary release, amid fears COVID-19 could sweep through jails.

Latest News since April 2020
But Assange failed in a bail bid based on his risk of catching the virus, with a British judge saying there were “no grounds” for his release.

An extradition hearing was fixed for September 7 2020. Hearings, including a statement in support of the defence by Noam Chomsky, concluded on 1 October 2020. Judge Baraitser said she would deliver her decision on 4 January.

On 4 January 2021, Judge Baraitser ruled that Assange could not be extradited to the United States, citing concerns about his mental health and the risk of suicide in a US prison. There had been a suicide "incident" with Manning on 11 March 2020. She sided with the US on every other point, including whether the charges constituted political offences and whether he was entitled to freedom of speech protections. On the same day, President Andres Manuel López Obrador said that Mexico was ready to offer political asylum. On 6 January, Assange was denied bail on the grounds that he was a flight risk, pending an appeal by the United States. The US prosecutors lodged an appeal on 15 January. A spokesman for the US Department of Justice confirmed in mid-February 2021 that it would continue the appeal under the new Biden administration.

Update June 2024
Julian Assange to plead guilty in US case
Sadie Gurman, Aruna Viswanatha, Max Colchester, Wall Street Journal
Tuesday June 25, 2024

On Monday afternoon at 5pm (UK time) Julian Assange boarded a plane out of the UK after leaving the maximum security prison he spent almost 2000 days in as part of a US plea deal over espionage charges the WikiLeaks founder is pleading guilty to. Assange has spent more than a decade holed up and imprisoned in London, largely to avoid being sent to the US. Assange will plead guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to obtain and distribute classified information via the website’s publication of thousands of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables about America’s actions in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s. The plea will take place on Wednesday morning in Saipan, the US territory in the Northern Mariana islands in the western Pacific.

He is expected to be sentenced to the 62 months he has already spent in a London prison, and be allowed to return to his native Australia after his sentencing. Prosecutors had been in talks with Assange to resolve the 2019 case, The Wall Street Journal reported in March, with one sticking point being Assange’s desire to never set foot in the United States. To enter a felony plea, defendants generally have to show up in person in court.

Assange’s team had floated the possibility of pleading guilty to a misdemeanour, the Journal reported, which would mean Assange could enter the plea remotely. The Justice Department and Assange’s legal team reached a compromise under which Assange wouldn’t have to travel to suburban Virginia, where the original case is filed, and prosecutors could still get a felony plea, the people said. The plea deal offers a neat solution to what was becoming an increasing political headache for the US government.

Earlier this year, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he hoped the US could find a way to conclude the case against Assange, and lawmakers there passed a motion calling for Assange to be allowed to return to his native home. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has also weighed in, saying that the British courts should not extradite Assange to the US. In February, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, said Assange shouldn’t be extradited to the US to face trial, saying he suffered from “depressive disorder” and was at risk of being placed in solitary confinement.

“Politically he is in a much better position than he was six months ago,” says Stella Assange, Julian Assange’s wife, during an interview with the Journal last month. Stella Assange hinted that their family was willing to accept a plea deal to get him out of a British high security prison where she said he is suffering health issues and lives in a cell alone. “As his wife and the mother of his children … I want him to be free,” she said.

The legal drama began around 2010, when WikiLeaks released a huge trove of classified documents that presented a bleak view of America’s actions in two wars. The website collaborated with top media organisations, and for years, Assange revelled in his status as a proponent of radical government transparency. WikiLeaks, which had already exposed video of a Baghdad airstrike and Afghanistan war papers, started releasing more than 250,000 classified US diplomatic cables.

The public perception of him soured after the 2016 election, when WikiLeaks published tens of thousands of documents the US says were stolen from Democrats by Russian government hackers. Former President Donald Trump’s first CIA director, Mike Pompeo, called the website a “nonstate hostile intelligence service”.

US prosecutors later charged Assange in connection with the Iraq and Afghanistan leaks, accusing him of conspiring to help former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning break into a Defense Department computer system by trying to help Manning crack a password. They added charges under a US espionage law, leaving him to face 18 counts of conspiring to disclose classified information and hack a military computer. Assange’s lawyers had argued that he merely published information given to him, much as a journalist would, and so shouldn’t face punishment. The press’s right to publish is generally protected by the First Amendment.

Manning was convicted of leaking government secrets and served seven years in prison.

Trump-era Justice Department officials who charged Assange sought to differentiate his work from journalism because they alleged Assange solicited the classified material and knew its publication would jeopardise lives. The Obama administration had also considered charging him but declined because of concerns about how it could affect conventional journalism. In the Biden administration, officials struggled with how to proceed, given some parallels between his work and that of the press, and the passage of time, which would likely mean he had already essentially served any sentence he might get after being convicted in a trial.

Assange has fought a winding, and at times surreal, campaign to avoid a US trial. He was initially dogged by allegations of rape in Sweden in 2010. He sought asylum in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2012 and stayed there for years, fathering two children and hosting guests including actress and model Pamela Anderson and pop star Lady Gaga. The Swedish rape investigation was eventually dropped. Assange outstayed his welcome in the cramped Ecuadorean Embassy, where he angered officials by not cleaning up after his cat, skateboarding in the hallway and allegedly leaking personal information about Ecuador’s president to a rival. The US and UK governments also applied pressure on Ecuador to evict Assange.

After being kicked out of the embassy, Assange was promptly jailed in London. A British judge ruled Assange had a history of evading justice and so should be kept in Belmarsh prison awaiting decision on his US extradition. In January 2021, a British judge ruled Assange should not be extradited, saying his mental health meant he would be at risk of suicide if convicted and held in a maximum-security prison. But that decision was overturned after an appeal by US authorities, who gave a package of assurances, including a pledge he could be transferred to Australia to serve any sentence. British judges then ruled in March 2024 that he couldn’t immediately be extradited to the US to face the charges, which was expected to further prolong his appeals.

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