# Should President Obama pardon Chelsea Manning? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 14, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-president-obama-pardon-chelsea-manning/772003 "2016-11-14T21:38:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-president-obama-pardon-chelsea-manning/772003/141 "2017-01-20T16:47:37Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > But only if his “rights are respected”. I’ve got 10 bucks that says that they aren’t going to be. What charges would the U.S. government bring against non-U.S. citizen Assange? Receiving stolen goods? Asshole Manning stole classified documents and released them to asshole Assange. There is absolutely no evidence of any U.S. charges pending against Assange, in spite of what asshole Assange, and CNN, might imply. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-president-obama-pardon-chelsea-manning/772003/142 "2017-01-20T16:52:17Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > I wonder why the _Express_ would chose to help _Russia Today/RT_ spread propaganda and horseshit? I would hope that there are other, more trustworthy, news organizations available? The Express papers have been through a chequered history over the decades as news vehicles, as distinct from propaganda platforms for successive proprietors’ opinions, or just as sensationalist gossip sheets. My guess is that it was easier and cheaper for them to lift this story rather than actually employ any serious journalists. I’d only ever take note of the broadsheets in the UK, and they have their own slants and special interests, too. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-president-obama-pardon-chelsea-manning/772003/143 "2017-01-20T19:24:00Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Oh please yourself. Learn to recognize tongue in cheek hyperbole. How does tongue in cheek hyperbole advance a (Great) Debate? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-president-obama-pardon-chelsea-manning/772003/144 "2017-01-22T20:18:03Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Completely false. > > I had access to some classified info, and \*none \*of it was like that. > > Besides, many, many people can see classified info, and someone would have spilled the beans. True the pentagon pagers did show a seamy underside, but not like you say. Nor have any other dumps/leaks. Have you read the Pentagon Papers?. They didn’t seem to me to show a seamy underside, but I don’t know what the political context was. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-president-obama-pardon-chelsea-manning/772003/145 "2017-01-23T14:21:06Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Given that the NSA, CIA, and FBI (why weren’t the other members of the Whitehouse claimed 17 agencies included?) have recently released a 25 page report stating that _Russia Today/RT_ is a leading purveyor of misleading and fake news, I wonder why the _Express_ would chose to help _Russia Today/RT_ spread propaganda and horseshit? I would hope that there are other, more trustworthy, news organizations available? The _Express_ is also a purveyor of misleading/fake news. In journalistic terms, it’s about a step above the _National Enquirer_. Most UK tabloids are. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-president-obama-pardon-chelsea-manning/772003/146 "2017-06-21T06:10:26Z")
> [@](#): > > In the seven years since WikiLeaks published the largest leak of classified documents in history, the federal government has said they caused enormous damage to national security. > > But a secret, 107-page report, prepared by a Department of Defense task force and newly obtained by BuzzFeed News, tells a starkly different story: It says the disclosures were largely insignificant and did not cause any real harm to US interests. > > Regarding the hundreds of thousands of Iraq-related military documents and State Department cables provided by the Army private Chelsea Manning, the report assessed “with high confidence that disclosure of the Iraq data set will have no direct personal impact on current and former U.S. leadership in Iraq.” > **[Secret Report Contradicts US Position On Chelsea Manning Leaks](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/secret-government-report-chelsea-manning-leaks-caused-no)** > > Prosecutors said WikiLeaks' disclosures about Iraq and Afghanistan posed a major threat to US national security. But it turns out the classified document they cited — newly obtained by BuzzFeed News — said almost the exact opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-president-obama-pardon-chelsea-manning/772003/147 "2017-06-21T11:13:54Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [Secret Report Contradicts US Position On Chelsea Manning Leaks](https://www.buzzfeed.com/jasonleopold/secret-government-report-chelsea-manning-leaks-caused-no?utm_term=.eamodvrVG#.swQgdo50O) I think that’s an extremely specious conclusion given that half the document was redacted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-president-obama-pardon-chelsea-manning/772003.md?page=7)