Fort Leavenworth, Kansas – After seven years behind bars, Army leaker Chelsea Manning walked out of a military prison early Wednesday morning.
In January, then-President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence for leaking troves of military intelligence records to the website Wikileaks.
Chelsea Manning was released from Fort Leavenworth in the dead of night with no fanfare according to a U.S. Army official.
Manning served just seven years of a 35-year sentence for releasing a trove of classified information to Wikileaks.
Former President Obama, as one of his final and more controversial acts in office, commuted the remainder of Manning’s sentence, saying he believed 35-years was disproportionate to what other leakers have received and that justice had been served.
Manning came out as a transgender woman shortly after her conviction and has had a rough time in prison according to her attorneys, attempting suicide twice.
Manning’s legal team is not releasing any information about her immediate future plans, only saying she will continue to appeal her conviction.
While that appeal goes forward Manning will remain a member of the U.S. Military, eligible for benefits but not pay.
$140,000 has been raised on-line to help Manning re-acclimate and start a new life.
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