Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst for the U.S. Army, was taken into custody Friday after she was found in contempt of the court for failing to appear before a secret grand jury investigating WikiLeaks.
On Friday, Manning told U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton before she was ordered to jail she would “accept whatever you bring upon me.” Manning must remain jailed until she testifies or until the grand jury’s work wraps up, according to the order from Hilton.
Manning was convicted in 2013 for violating the Espionage Act after she provided thousands of national security documents to WikiLeaks. She originally faced 35 years in prison, but former President Barack Obama commuted her sentence and she was released in 2017.
She was subpoenaed earlier this year to testify before a federal grand jury in a sealed case, but signaled in a statement earlier this week she wouldn’t cooperate and testify. She claimed she was “prepared to face the consequences” of her reticence before the grand jury — including being held in jail.
“A judge will consider the legal grounds for my refusal to answer questions in front of a grand jury,” Manning said in the statement. “The court may find me in contempt, and order me to jail.”
The Washington Post reports Manning told reporters before the hearing that she would prefer to testify in public and argued that covert hearings are more beneficial to the government.
“These secret proceedings tend to favor the government,” Manning said. “I’m always willing to explain things publicly.”
