FORT MEADE, Md. — Military prosecutors preparing to try Pfc. Bradley Manning said on Wednesday that they would introduce evidence that Osama bin Laden requested and received from a Qaeda member some of the State Department cables and military reports that Private Manning is accused of passing to WikiLeaks.
The prosecutors also said they would present logs of Internet chats in February 2010 between Private Manning and Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, including one in which the two men appeared to be “laughing” together about a New York Times article. The March 17, 2010, article said that the Pentagon had listed WikiLeaks as a threat to military operations and security.
The military judge hearing the case, Col. Denise Lind, said Private Manning’s trial would be postponed until at least June 3 to allow consideration of classified information that may be used. The trial is expected to take roughly six weeks.
Private Manning, 25, formerly a low-level intelligence analyst in Iraq, could face a sentence of life without parole if convicted on all charges, including aiding the enemy.
He is accused of the largest unauthorized disclosure of confidential documents in history, including 250,000 diplomatic cables, field reports from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, video footage of an American helicopter gunship killing two Reuters journalists in Iraq and government assessments of the detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
In a bid for a lower sentence, Private Manning’s lawyers have said he would admit that he supplied the documents to WikiLeaks and committed certain lesser crimes. The judge had previously said some, but not all, of the offers were acceptable under military law.
On Wednesday, defense lawyers adjusted their offer, saying Private Manning would be willing to admit to a list of crimes with a total maximum sentence of 20 years.
If the judge finds the plea legal, prosecutors will have the option of going along with it or proceeding with a trial in an attempt to convict him on some or all of the most serious charges.
The defense has said its witnesses would argue that the material Private Manning gave WikiLeaks was relatively low-grade and outdated information that could not do significant damage to national security. The prosecutors’ challenge to one proposed defense witnesses, Yochai Benkler, a Harvard law professor and Internet expert, led to a revealing discussion about the nature of WikiLeaks.
Colonel Lind, the judge, asked a prosecutor a hypothetical question: If Private Manning had given the documents to The New York Times rather than to WikiLeaks, would he face the same charges?
“Yes, ma’am,” said the prosecutor, Capt. Angel Overgaard.
The New York Times and other mainstream publications published hundreds of the documents Private Manning is accused of leaking. The Justice Department is carrying out an investigation of WikiLeaks to determine whether Mr. Assange or his associates can be charged with a crime.
Media advocates say such a prosecution would be a dangerous precedent for news organizations like The Times that frequently obtain and publish information the government considers classified.
New Evidence to Be Introduced Against Bradley Manning
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New Evidence to Be Introduced Against Bradley Manning
