Government rests its case against Bradley Manning: trial report, day 14
Bradley Manning’s trial is in a long closed session for the testimony of DIA counterintel agent Daniel Lewis. The judge ruled on the government’s motion for judicial notice, and partially qualified Lewis as a CI expert. We’ll update this post later today.
By Nathan Fuller, Bradley Manning Support Network. July 2, 2013.
DIA agent Daniel Lewis, sketched by Clark Stoeckley
Update 4:15pm ET
The government rests its case against PFC Bradley Manning. Prosecutor Maj. Ashden Fein announced that the government had submitted all of its evidence, and that it no longer intends to present evidence regarding the “classified enemy” that it referenced in its bill of particulars.
The defense will begin presenting its case on Monday, July 8, at 9:30am ET.
The announcement came directly after a two-and-a-half-hour classified session, closed off to the press and public, in which DIA’s Daniel Lewis testified about counterintelligence and his knowledge regarding the value of classified information to foreign intelligence services.
Original post
Not much to report yet on the 14th day of Bradley Manning’s court martial. Court opened at 11am for two rulings and promptly recessed for a lunch break followed by a closed session to elicit classified information.
First, Judge Denise Lind granted the government’s motion to admit three items for judicial notice: that Julian Assange was in Iceland in 2010 and working on the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, that Lt. Col. Lee Packnett was quoted in the New York Times regarding WikiLeaks, and that a New Yorker profile of Assange (titled ‘No Secrets’) was published in June 2010.
DIA agent expert in CI, but not value of classified docs
The government has offered DIA counterintelligence and counterespionage agent Daniel Lewis as an expert in counterintelligence (CI) and valuing classified information. The defense stipulates that Lewis is an expert in CI generally, but contends that he’s not an expert in offensive CI operations or in valuing classified documents.
Lewis’ testimony, particularly if qualified as on expert on evaluating information, would be useful for the government’s 18 USC 641 (federal larceny) charges (see our day 13 report for more on Lewis and those arguments).
After brief questioning yesterday in open court, the parties moved to a classified session, closed off to the press and public, which lasted approximately two hours.
Judge Lind ruled on Lewis’s testimony in open court, but said that she also filed a classified supplement that won’t be read to the press and public. She ruled that she will consider Lewis an expert in CI generally (incorporating “all facets,” meaning including offensive operations, of CI), but that she won’t qualify him as an expert on valuing classified information. She said Lewis “may testify and offer an opinion with regard to the value of certain charged documents upon laying a proper foundation within the parameters of the oral classified supplement to this ruling.”
The court is in recess until 1:30pm, and then will be in a closed session until 3:30pm, at which point the parties expect to return to open court.
I’ll update this post later today.
Shame on you Amerika ! Free Bradly Manning !
I’m I guess sort of illiterate when it comes to “classified” and what it means, but so far in this proceedings it appears to me that there is no material Bradley gave out that was that sensitive, now was there anything any agency of a foreign government could use to overthrow or otherwise commit subterfuge against the U.S. It seems like the Government has once again reacted instead of responded to a situation and at this point is trying to save face (which I think is next to impossible in this case) I don’t want Bradley found guilty; I think we deserve to hear and see what he brought to light. But I was hoping that the prosecution had some kind of viable case to make his 1000+ in confinement have some kind of justification. So far I haven’t seen it.
There is ongoing argument about the US military overclassifying information. Please look into this controversy in order to understand the charges, the testimony, the plea of Manning, and the final outcome of the trial.
The US government only cares about “face” as it’s loss results in citizen opposition to the corporate/government agenda.
Look to Eisenhower’s warning about corporate/military power – a natural self-preserving characteristic of any group creates this tyrannous momentum you are seeing in the US.
The nature of existence tends to result in such coalition. The ideal ecology of human life in harmony with a healthy diverse world suffers from the human expression of this aggregation around resource.
That expression is the aberrance to be minimised.
Human rights and compassion are inextricably connected to all life and health, and to the future of life on Earth.
Responding too desperately to international machinations may often cause inability to preserve one’s own healthy life. This is obviously the trend of the US government, and the health of that government is your own.
Bradley’s impulse to expose such unethical activity was the right way for him to proceed. I suggest that everyone follow their deepest personal feelings, rather than parrot socially-learned aberrant ethics – name them how you will.
Why should the prosecution waste its time establishing the value of the information to the enemy. Why does he not focus on the value of the information to the citizens of the United States? The information was worth much more on the domestic market that in the foreign market – reasons to end the war and dismantle the standing armies and the military industrial complex. This is worth trillions of dollars. One video contained the proof that the war created its own enemies, a self-sustaining conflagration.
Bratley Manning NO ajuda a l´enemic.Demana perdó a l´enemic per la impietat dels Seus soldats que no es en absolut la del Seu
Poble.
Bratley Manning es soldat de la Veritat,i he conegut la vergonya de sentir-me sub-humà,la esgarrifosa foscor de lo salvatge encara en la Civilització.
Que tingui un dia agradable amb moltes rialles.