--- title: Chelsea Manning Asks President Obama for Shortened Sentence description: Manning was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for leaking government secrets canonical: https://time.com/4570117/chelsea-manning-president-obama-commute-sentence/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-14T18:19:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:48:47.937Z article:section: Politics og:title: Chelsea Manning Petitions President Obama for Shortened Sentence og:description: Manning was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for leaking government secrets og:url: https://time.com/4570117/chelsea-manning-president-obama-commute-sentence/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77880791a0dcb28a/6988ae69fb4eac104388fe2f/chelsea-manning2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Chelsea Manning og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chelsea Manning Petitions President Obama for Shortened Sentence twitter:description: Manning was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for leaking government secrets twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77880791a0dcb28a/6988ae69fb4eac104388fe2f/chelsea-manning2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Chelsea Manning Petitions President Obama for Shortened Sentence by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 14, 2016 6:19 PM CUT  Chelsea Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick. Chelsea Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick.U.S. Army/AP by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 14, 2016 6:19 PM CUT [Chelsea Manning](http://time.com/2877755/chelsea-manning-military-secrecy-press-freedom/ "undefined"), who admitted leaking secret military and government documents to WikiLeaks, has petitioned the president for a shorter prison sentence. Manning asked President Obama to commute her current 35-year sentence down to the time she has already served, a little more than six years. Manning’s sentence is much longer than those who have been convicted of leaking secrets in the past. The[ New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/us/politics/chelsea-manning-asks-obama-to-cut-sentence-to-time-served.html?%5Fr=3 "undefined") obtained a copy of her petition which included a statement from Manning. She explained that while she takes full responsibility for her actions, which she called “wrong,” she did not “intend to harm the interests of the United States.” “The sole relief I am asking for is to be released from military prison after serving six years of confinement as a person who did not intend to harm the interests of the United States or harm any service members,” Manning wrote. The [New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/us/politics/chelsea-manning-asks-obama-to-cut-sentence-to-time-served.html?%5Fr=3 "undefined") reports several people issued statements on behalf of Manning in the petition, including Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg, journalist Glenn Greenwald, and former military commissions chief prosecutor Morris Davis. \[[NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/us/politics/chelsea-manning-asks-obama-to-cut-sentence-to-time-served.html?%5Fr=3 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4570117/chelsea-manning-president-obama-commute-sentence/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4570117/chelsea-manning-president-obama-commute-sentence/"},"headline":"Chelsea Manning Petitions President Obama for Shortened Sentence","datePublished":"2016-11-14T18:19:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:48:47.937Z","description":"Manning was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for leaking government secrets","url":"https://time.com/4570117/chelsea-manning-president-obama-commute-sentence/","keywords":["White House","WikiLeaks","Chelsea Manning","espionage"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77880791a0dcb28a/6988ae69fb4eac104388fe2f/chelsea-manning2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77880791a0dcb28a/6988ae69fb4eac104388fe2f/chelsea-manning2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chelsea Manning","caption":"Chelsea Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick.","creditText":"U.S. Army/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4570117/chelsea-manning-president-obama-commute-sentence/","name":"Chelsea Manning Petitions President Obama for Shortened Sentence"}}]}] ```