Chelsea Manning subpoenaed to testify before grand jury in Assange investigation

Chelsea Manning has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in the investigation of Julian Assange, officials said, one of several indicators that prosecutors remain interested in WikiLeaks’ publication of diplomatic cables and military war logs in 2010.

Prosecutors in Virginia have been pursuing a case based on conduct that predates WikiLeaks’ publication of hacked emails during the 2016 presidential campaign, and it’s not clear investigators are interested in that activity. Officials discussed the investigation of Assange, who founded WikiLeaks, on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the grand jury process.

Manning, whose subpoena was first reported by the New York Times, is a former Army private who served seven years in a military prison for passing secret State Department cables and military documents to WikiLeaks before receiving a commutation from President Barack Obama.

Manning’s attorneys have filed a motion to quash the subpoena.

“I object strenuously to this subpoena, and to the grand jury process in general,” Manning said in a statement. “We’ve seen this power abused countless times to target political speech. I have nothing to contribute to this case and I resent being forced to endanger myself by participating in this predatory practice.”

The subpoena was signed last month by Gordon Kromberg, a national security prosecutor on the Assange case. Kromberg last month persuaded a judge to leave sealed an indictment against Assange despite its inadvertent exposure in an unrelated court filing last year.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/chelsea-manning-subpoenaed-to-testify-before-grand-jury-in-assange-investigation/ar-BBUgKf7?li=BBnbcA1