tobye wetware: Military judge lets aiding-enemy charge stand in private?s WikiLeaks case

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Military judge lets aiding-enemy charge stand in private?s WikiLeaks case

By McClatchy Newspapers

Published: Thursday, July 18, 2013, 8:36?p.m.
Updated 2 hours ago

FORT MEADE, Md. ? A military judge on Thursday refused to dismiss a far-reaching charge that Army Pfc. Bradley Manning aided the enemy when he gave hundreds of thousands of government documents to WikiLeaks, an online repository of secrets from the federal government as well as other nations and corporations.

In a major victory for the Pentagon and a defeat for Manning, Army Col. Denise Lind rejected a defense motion that she dismiss the most serious of multiple charges filed against Manning. The aiding-the-enemy charge carries the possibility of life in prison; in theory, prosecutors could have asked for the death penalty.

Lind cited Manning's training as an intelligence analyst, as well as the sheer volume of the 700,000 documents he has acknowledged providing to WikiLeaks, as the basis for reasoning that he knew the leak could aid al-Qaida.

?They're not commonly granted,? Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale Law School, said of motions to dismiss, while adding, ?as a matter of law, I don't know if her ruling will survive.?

Lind's highly anticipated ruling, delivered in a Fort Meade, Md., courtroom outside of Washington, leaves intact 19 criminal counts.

Manning has agreed to plead guilty to some of those charges, which can bring a sentence of up to 20 years in the Kansas military prison formally known as U.S. Disciplinary Barracks Leavenworth.

The aiding-the-enemy charge has been the most consequential ? and controversial ? of the prosecution's case against the 25-year-old Oklahoma native. For lawyers, journalists and potential whistleblowers, the case has underscored how leakers and reporters alike have become legally vulnerable under the Obama administration's aggressive anti-leak campaign.