Jan. 14 (UPI) — Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who served prison time for leaking classified information, filed to run as a Democratic candidate for Senate in Maryland.
Manning, who filed official paperwork on Thursday, is one of four Democratic candidates who have filed for the Senate seat. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has not yet announced if he would seek a third term.
Manning was convicted in 2013 for stealing sensitive government documents and videos, including information about the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, State Department cables, information about prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and leaking the information to WikiLeaks.
Her 35-year sentence was shortened in January 2017 after President Barack Obama commuted her sentence, giving her an early release date.
While in prison, Manning came out as transgender and changed her first name from Bradley to Chelsea.
Manning’s lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union, Nancy Hollander and Vincent Ward, said in a joint statement that “Chelsea has already served the longest sentence of any whistleblower in the history of this country.”
