Michael Hernandez
08 March 2019•Update: 08 March 2019
WASHINGTON
Former Army intelligence analyst and whistleblower Chelsea Manning was taken into federal custody Friday after refusing to comply with a secret grand jury probe of the anti-secrecy Wikileaks website.
Judge Claude Hilton ruled Manning must be held in civil detention until she testifies before the Virginia grand jury.
Manning could be detained for up to 18 months, her lawyer, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, told reporters outside of the courthouse.
"It was certainly a typical outcome for this kind of proceeding," Meltzer-Cohen said. "Judge Hilton did find her in contempt in open court, and did order her remanded."
Manning's team plans to file an appeal.
Manning said Thursday she would "stand by my principles" and was prepared to face the consequences for her refusal to comply with the grand jury.
"I will exhaust every legal remedy available," she said in a statement. "My legal team continues to challenge the secrecy of these proceedings."
Manning said she was called to testify before a federal grand jury Wednesday regarding her 2010 disclosure of classified military materials to Wikileaks. Those materials include troves of sensitive diplomatic cables, and a video of July 2007 U.S. airstrikes in Baghdad that killed two Reuters journalists.
"I responded to each question with the following statement: ‘I object to the question and refuse to answer on the grounds that the question is in violation of my First, Fourth, and Sixth Amendment, and other statutory rights," she said.
She was previously sentenced to 35 years in military prison for leaking classified information to the public, and served roughly seven years in military custody before former President Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her sentence shortly before he left office in 2017.
