Chelsea Manning Explains Decision to Leak Military Documents

Chelsea Manning, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for releasing more than 700,000 documents to WikiLeaks, said in an upcoming Nightline interview that she takes responsibility for everything she’s done. Manning was in prison for seven years at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, following her conviction under the Espionage and Computer Fraud and Abuse Acts. Documents leaked by Manning were published by The New York Times, The Guardian, and Der Spiegel. “Anything I’ve done, it’s me,” Manning told anchor Juju Chang. “There’s no one else. No one told me to do this. Nobody directed me to do this. This is me. It’s on me.” Manning was 22-years-old and a low-level analyst at the time of the leak. Said she hoped the documents would spark a public debate.