President-elect Donald Trump is “troubled” by President Barack Obama’s commutation of the sentence of former Army private Chelsea Manning, according to a spokesman.
In 2013, Manning was convicted of espionage by a court-martial for stealing classified intelligence information to WikiLeaks. Obama issued a commutation of most of Manning’s 35-year prison sentence on Tuesday, against the advice of most of his military advisors (including the secretary of Defense). Manning will likely go free this May.
“I think the president-elect is troubled by this action,” said Sean Spicer, the incoming White House press secretary, during a briefing with reporters Wednesday morning. “It’s disappointing, and it sends a very troubling message when it comes to the handling of classified information.”
Spicer did not answer a question about whether the Trump administration would do anything to reverse Obama’s commutation. It’s unclear if President Trump could do so through an executive order or whether doing so would violate due process.
According to the government’s legal team, the information Manning stole and leaked was reportedly coveted by Osama bin Laden. Republican leaders in Congress have blasted Obama’s decision.
Update: Asked later in the briefing about a possible pardon deal for Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor and former CIA employee who stole classified government documents and provided them to journalists in 2013, Spicer said the issue was not currently on President-elect Trump’s agenda. “I think he’s not focused on pardons, deals, stuff like that right now,” said Spicer. “I’m sure there’ll be time for that discussion down the road.”
Since June 2013, Snowden has been living in Russia under asylum granted to him by that country’s government. He has been charged by the U.S. government on espionage and stealing government documents.
