The whistleblower who confessed to leaking video and documents to WikiLeaks has been acquitted by a judge of aiding the enemy, the most serious charge against him.
Beyond the fate of Private Manning as an individual, the “aiding the enemy” charge — unprecedented in a leak case — could have significant long-term ramifications for investigative journalism in the Internet era.
The government’s theory is that providing defense-related information to an entity that published it for the world to see constituted aiding the enemy because the world includes adversaries, like members of Al Qaeda, who could read the documents online.
It’s nice to see that argument put to rest. Nevertheless, Manning’s been “found guilty of 19 remaining charges, meaning that he still faces the possibility of over 100 years behind bars.” Sentencing is said to begin tomorrow.
