Washington, Jan 14 (AFP) Whistleblower Chelsea Manning,jailed for leaking classified information, is seeking electionto the US Senate in the state of Maryland, a document says.
Manning has now gone from prison to US senatorialcandidate in less than a year during which she often madeheadlines, as the fame and infamy she gained by leaking atrove of classified documents follows her after release.
The Federal Election Commission document, filed Thursday,lists Chelsea Elizabeth Manning of North Bethesda, Maryland,as a Democratic candidate for the Senate.
Manning, now 30, was an army intelligence analystsentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for leaking more than700,000 classified documents related to the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan.
The revelations by Manning, who is transgender and wasthen known as Bradley Manning, exposed covered-up misdeeds andpossible crimes by US troops and allies.
Her actions made Manning a hero to anti-war and anti-secrecy activists but US establishment figures branded her atraitor.
Then-president Barack Obama commuted Manning's sentence,leading to her release in May.
During her incarceration Manning battled for, and won,the right to start hormone treatment. On Twitter sheidentifies herself as a "trans woman," and carries the slogan:"Make powerful people angry."The Democratic Senate incumbent is Ben Cardin, who wasfirst elected in 2006 and is the senior Democrat on the SenateForeign Relations Committee.
In elections last year, transgender candidate Danika Roemwas elected to the Virginia state House of Delegates, becomingthe first openly transgender lawmaker in the United States.
US President Donald Trump has labeled Manning a traitor.
He also tried to bar transgender personnel from themilitary but federal courts ruled against that ban.
Following her release, Harvard University offered Manninga Kennedy School visiting fellowship along with several otherpeople, including former White House Press Secretary SeanSpicer and Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook.
But the offer to Manning sparked sharp criticism --including from CIA director Mike Pompeo, who pulled out of aHarvard forum, and former acting director Mike Morrell, whoquit the university in protest -- and it was later rescinded.
Manning wrote on Twitter in September that she was barredfrom entering Canada due to criminal convictions in the UnitedStates and posted an image of a document.
The document said Manning had committed a crime outsidethe country that "would equate to an indictable offense,namely treason" in Canada and which carries a maximum sentenceof 14 years imprisonment.
Manning made waves in a different way when she posed in ared one-piece bathing suit for Vogue's September issue,eliciting both supportive and critical comments.
Speaking at the New Yorker Festival in October, Manningsaid she fears for her safety but does not plan to lay low.
"I've had people telling me, 'Maybe you shouldn't be sovocal.' And that's the reason why I'm out here," she said,explaining that she "can't imagine doing anything else rightnow.""I had this image of going (back) to a life that I hadbefore," she said. "And that's not possible. And I realize nowthat that's OK." (AFP)CPS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.