Government whistleblower and US Army PFC, Bradley Manning has been acquitted by Military Judge Col. Denise Lind of "aiding the enemy." Manning was accused by the prosecution (the government) of attempting to aid al-Qaeda through his leaking of classified and damning documents and videos to the whistleblower website Wikileaks. Should Manning have been found guilty, he could have potentially lost his life at the discretion of the judge. She did however find Manning guilty of almost 20 other charges.

The judge, Col. Denise Lind, found Manning guilty of most of the more than 20 crimes he was charged with. She also acquitted him of one count of the espionage act that stemmed from his leak of a video that depicted a fatal U.S. military airstrike in Farah, Afghanistan.

According to various sources, the charges could tally between 130-160 years in military custody at their maximum.Among the documents that Manning revealed were multiple instances of what could easily be considered war crimes, and he was held for 17 months before any sort of trail occurred, during which time he was essentially tortured. This excerpt from a 2011 Glen Greenwald article explains:

He is accused of leaking to the whistleblowing site hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables, war reports, and the now infamous 2007 video showing a US Apache helicopter in Baghdad gunning down civilians and a Reuters journalist. Though it is Manning who is nominally on trial, these proceedings reveal the US government's fixation with extreme secrecy, covering up its own crimes, and intimidating future whistleblowers.Since his arrest last May in Iraq, Manning has been treated as one of America's most dastardly traitors. He faces more than 30 charges, including one – "aiding the enemy" – that carries the death penalty (prosecutors will recommend life in prison, but military judges retain discretion to sentence him to die).The sadistic conditions to which he was subjected for 10 months – intense solitary confinement, at one point having his clothing seized and being forced to stand nude for inspection – became an international scandal for a US president who flamboyantly vowed to end detainee abuse. Amnesty International condemned these conditions as "inhumane"; PJ Crowley, a US state department spokesman, was forced to resign after denouncing Manning's treatment. Such conduct has been repeatedly cited by the US as human rights violations when engaged in by other countries.

With this verdict, which is a blow to the government and to Obama's Administration due to the acquittal on the charges of aiding the enemy, it will be interesting to see what happens with Edward Snowden's situation and if there is any change in tactics or posturing.Still...there is much more work to be done and we will update as more information about Manning's sentencing becomes available. There is another trial to work out sentencing on the other counts that will be held tomorrow.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!