When it comes to information freedom, those values remain controversial. Many lawmakers bridled at her abbreviated sentence; at the time of the commutation, Paul Ryan said, Chelsea Mannings treachery put American lives at risk and exposed some of our nations most sensitive secrets. Others argue that her motives, like a public-interest journalists, were honorableor that the actual damage of the leaks was small. Beyond some vocal LGBTQ advocacy (she was a star of the summers Pride March in New York, waving from a drop-top Nissan alongside Gavin Grimm), Manning herself has mostly stayed circumspect on issues of politics. Still, in a Guardian column from January 25, a few days following her commutation, she offered a soft criticism of President Obamas tactical approach: The one simple lesson to draw from President Obamas legacy: Do not start off with a compromise. They wont meet you in the middle. President Trump, newly elected, lambasted Manning over Twitter: Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!
Manning has avoided a rejoinder to the presidents tweet. And to the extent that WikiLeaks of 2017 (which seems to have pursued specific electoral outcomes in France and America and is dogged by the troubled reputation of its leader, Julian Assange) has a different public reputation than the 2010 organization (which claimed more categorical anti-secrecy principles), she has avoided opinions there, too. Ive been in prison for seven years! Ive been completely disconnected from all of that, she tells me. Her plan is to live in New York until late summer, then move to suburban Maryland, not far from where she was before.
