A former counterinsurgency instructor in Afghanistan blasted former President Barack Obama’s commutation of the sentence of Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst who was convicted of leaking classified material to Wikileaks.
Manning, who was born Bradley Edward Manning, was sentenced in August 2013 to serve 35 years in prison, and had served seven years before Obama’s commutation. He will be released on May 17, 2017.
Pete Hegseth, a former counterinsurgency instructor in Kabul, Afghanistan, took to Fox Business Channel to criticize the commutation of Manning’s sentence.
"What more you can say about treason and giving directly to the enemy something they can use against us and harms men and women on the battlefield,” Hegseth told Fox & Friends hosts Brian Kilmeade and Ainsley Earthardt. “I mean, this guy is a traitor. He was sentenced to 35 years. He should serve every single minute of it, but actually perfectly telling of Barack Obama."
In a separate appearance on Fox Business Channel's Varney & Co., Hegseth went event further.
“Did people die because of the information that Manning released?” asked host Stuart Varney.
“Yes,” replied Hegseth, who has received two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge from his service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hegseth is also the former CEO of Concerned Veterans for America and the former executive director of Vets for Freedom.
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