Convicted Classified Docs Leaker, Transgender Former Army Private Chelsea Manning Files for U.S. Senate Race

Chelsea Manning, formerly Bradley Manning who in 2013 was convicted of the biggest leak of classified documents in U.S. history, has filed to challenge Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) for his Senate seat, the Washington Post reported.

Manning, who became transgender during the six years he was incarcerated, had his 35-year prison sentence commuted by President Barack Obama before he left office.

Maryland radio station WBAL reported:

Manning, 30, settled in North Bethesda after she was granted clemency by then-President Barack Obama.

At an appearance in New York in October, Manning was asked whether she’d been afraid that her disclosures would hurt people by exposing the names of informants. She insisted the material included no such sensitive information.

“These aren’t intelligence documents,” Manning said. “It’s historical data.”

“There’s nothing sensitive in there, there’s no troop movements,” Manning said. “It was a historical record of everything that had happened in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

WBAL reported that Manning wanted to give the classified documents to the Washington Post or The New York Times, but the media outlets weren’t willing to establish encrypted channels, so he went to WikiLeaks.

Maryland’s primary election is set for June 26.

Last year, Breitbart News reported that Harvard University hired Manning as a visiting fellow at their Institute of Politics.

In the announcement of his hiring on the Harvard website, Manning is described as “a Washington D.C. based network security expert and former U.S. Army intelligence analyst.”

After Obama commuted his sentence, Manning shifted his focus to queer and transgender rights activism.

Last week on Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, Manning tweeted a vulgarity aimed at first responders.

fuck the police 🚫🔫👮‍♀️🚔 #DisarmThePolice 😁🌈💕 #WeGotThis #LawEnforcementAppreciationDay pic.twitter.com/Ugo0XbkEVW

— Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) January 9, 2018