Whistleblower Chelsea Manning to run for US senate
By Sim Sim Wissgott
["north america"]
Transgender whistleblower Chelsea Manning, who was released last year after spending seven years in prison for leaking classified data to Wikileaks, is planning to run for the US Senate, federal election filings showed on Saturday.
According to a Federal Election Commission document submitted on Thursday, 30-year-old Manning hopes to be the Democratic Party’s candidate in the US Senate election in Maryland in November.
She will likely come up however against two-term senator Ben Cardin, who was easily re-elected in 2012 and is expected to run again this year.
People take part in a small rally in support of Chelsea Manning in Kansas City, Missouri, US, May 17, 2017. /VCG Photo

People take part in a small rally in support of Chelsea Manning in Kansas City, Missouri, US, May 17, 2017. /VCG Photo

Manning, a former army intelligence analyst, was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for leaking more than 700,000 classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to Wikileaks.
The revelations constituted the biggest breach of classified data in US history and exposed covered-up misdeeds and possible crimes by US troops and allies.
Then known as Bradley Manning, she became a hero to anti-war and anti-secrecy activists. She came out as transgendered shortly after her sentencing.
In May of last year, she was released from prison after President Barack Obama granted her clemency before leaving office.
The move drew criticism, however, and Obama’s successor Donald Trump and CIA director Mike Pompeo have called Manning a traitor.
In elections last year, transgender candidate Danika Roem was elected to the Virginia state House of Delegates, becoming the first openly transgender lawmaker in the United States. 
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Source(s): AP ,AFP ,Reuters