President Barack Obama reportedly has Chelsea Manning on his "short list" for commutation before he leaves office, a person in the Justice Department told NBC News. The decision could be made as soon as Wednesday.
Manning, 29, is a former U.S. Army soldier and was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking classified military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks in 2010. Branded as a "traitor" by prosecutors and critics, Manning received what some have considered to be an unfairly harsh sentence: "After this case, I had to tell Chelsea — 'I've represented murderers. I've represented rapists. I've represented child molesters. And none of them received 35 years,'" defense lawyer David Coombs told NBC News.
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"I have more hope right now than I have the entire time since she was sentenced," said Manning's aunt, Deborah Manning. "I do think it's the last hope for a while."
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