Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning made the short list of last minute presidential commutations from President Barack Obama, according to a new report from NBC News Wednesday.
The federal government convicted Manning of the espionage act and other charges in July 2013 after he stole around one million pieces of classified materials while on assignment as an intelligence analyst and later gave the documents to the WikiLeaks website. The files discussed operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and revealed secret diplomatic cables.
Manning is serving a 35-year prison sentence at Fort Leavenworth.
Manning, a biological male who previously went by Bradley Manning, attempted to commit suicide twice in 2016 and went on a hunger strike once in an effort to get a gender reassignment surgery performed on him.
Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor who leaked secret files to journalists before escaping to Moscow, tweeted support to Manning on Wednesday, stating: “Mr. President, if you grant only one act of clemency as you exit the White House, please: free Chelsea Manning. You alone can save her life.”