Chelsea Manning Walks Out After Interviewer Brings Up Link to bin Laden

Convicted U.S. whistleblower Chelsea Manning (shown above left) infamously leaked over 700,000 U.S. classified documents to Wikileaks — documents that found their way into the hands of such American enemies as Osama bin Laden.

The former Army private and intelligence analyst — who spent most of “her” life as a “he,” as Bradley Manning, before declaring himself a woman and eventually undergoing transgender surgery — worked in Iraq.

Charged with nearly two dozen offenses, which included aiding the enemy, she was sentenced in 2010 to 35 years in prison for leaking those 700,000 documents to WikiLeaks.

Former President Barack Obama then infamously commuted that sentence in January 2017 — to roughly seven years dating back to the time of Manning’s arrest in 2010.

Manning, 30, now earns a living primarily through speaking engagements and media appearances.

During an interview late last week with the Australian radio station Triple J, Manning was asked how she feels about theoretically helping bin Laden.

Instead of answering the question, Manning cut the interview short.

“Some of your leaked documents were found in Osama bin Laden’s compound … after his death. That’s information in the hands of one of America’s biggest enemies. Do you have any regrets about that outcome? What did you think when you heard that?” asked interviewer Tom Tilley.

Manning replied, “Ah — look I can’t really talk about specifics of my court martial. The record of trial is still classified.”

“But why does that mean you can’t say how you felt when you found out that piece of information? Do you dispute that’s true?” Tilley pushed on.

“Ah I can’t — I can’t even tell you whether or not we dispute that it’s true. It’s that highly classified,” responded Manning.

Manning’s people then suddenly interrupted the broadcast, saying they needed to end the interview.

“Thank you very much. Chelsea, hang up,” said the media aide who was also on the call.

“Why can’t we carry on this interview? What was wrong with my questioning?”

“Why? Why can’t we carry on this interview? What was wrong with my questioning? If you guys are talking about transparency and openness, surely we can continue this interview,” asked Tilley.

“Tom, this is Suzi, the director of Think Inc. I guess what’s a priority for us is to be respectful to our talent. I understand there might be nothing wrong with your questioning, but we just want to be really respectful to Chelsea, because she’s given up her time to have this conversation,” responded Suzi Jamil.

Tilley said this after the interview was cut off: “I believe that [if] someone with a well-known controversial history is going to get the opportunity to speak on the national broadcaster and air their political views, they also need to be prepared to answer some accountability questions for their actions.”

What do you think Cheslea Manning is hiding? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.