GI Largely Barred From Discussing WikiLeaks Harm - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

GI Largely Barred From Discussing WikiLeaks Harm

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) - A military judge is largely prohibiting an Army private from presenting evidence at trial that the mountain of classified information he's accused of giving to the website WikiLeaks did little harm to U.S. interests. Col. Denise Lind ruled Thursday during a pretrial hearing at Fort Meade, Md., for Pfc. Bradley Manning.

He's charged with aiding the enemy by sending hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and war logs to the secret-spilling website. Lind agreed with prosecutors that the extent of any damage is irrelevant to the charges.

She left the door open, though, for defense attorneys to raise the issue to show witness bias. Both sides will be allowed to present evidence of harm during the sentencing phase if Manning is convicted.

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