WASHINGTON _ President Barack Obama has sharply reduced the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the U.S. Army private convicted of leaking thousands of classified reports to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.
The president also pardoned a retired Marine Corps general, James E. Cartwright, who pleaded guilty in October to lying to FBI agents about his discussions with reporters concerning secret U.S. efforts to damage Iran's nuclear program.
In all, Obama commuted sentences for 209 individuals and issued 64 pardons.
The most notable omission on the list was Edward Snowden, who sought refuge in Russia after leaking a vast trove of documents about U.S. surveillance systems at home and abroad. He has been charged with espionage, but has not been tried or convicted, and is considered a fugitive.
Manning, formerly known as Pfc. Bradley Manning, was sentenced to 35 years in prison in August 2013 after she was convicted in military court of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic records, cables and videos to WikiLeaks in 2010.
She will now be released from military custody on May 17 to give her time to prepare for release and to make arrangements for a place to live, according to senior administration officials.
The officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said each application for clement was received by the Department of Justice, reviewed by the White House counsel's office and approved by Obama.
"The deep concerns the intelligence community has expressed about WikiLeaks did not have any bearing on the president's decision to grant a commutation for Chelsea Manning," one official said.
"Chelsea Manning accepted responsibility for crimes she committed, expressed remorse for committing these crimes," the official said.
Also, the official said, Manning's sentence was longer than those given to individuals convicted of "comparable" crimes.
"The president continues to believe her actions were criminal and ... harmed our national security," the official said.
But she has served six years in prison and Obama "believes that is sufficient and has decided to commute her sentence," the official said.
Since has commuted prison sentences for 1,385 people, more than any other president and more commutations than the last 12 presidents combined.
"I'm relieved and thankful that the president is doing the right thing and commuting Chelsea Manning's sentence," Chase Strangio, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBT Project representing Manning, said in a statement.
"Since she was first taken into custody, Chelsea has been subjected to long stretches of solitary confinement _ including for attempting suicide _ and has been denied access to medically necessary healthcare. This move could quite literally save Chelsea's life, and we are all better off knowing that Chelsea Manning will walk out of prison a free woman, dedicated to making the world a better place and fighting for justice for so many," he said.
