Attorneys for Manning, 25, who faces up to 90 years in prison after being convicted July 30 on 20 charges in the biggest release of classified files in U.S. history, are expected to read a statement from him on August 14, 2013.
By Courtney Kube, Matthew DeLuca and Erin McClam, NBC News
Private Bradley Manning, convicted of handing state secrets to WikiLeaks, on Wednesday told the sentencing part of his court martial that he was sorry for his actions and for hurting the United States.
"I'm sorry I hurt people. I'm sorry that I hurt the United States," he said. "I'm apologizing for the unexpected results of my actions. The last three years have been a learning experience for me."
Manning says he understood what he was doing and the decisions he made. However, he says he did not believe at the time that leaking the information would cause harm.
The 25-year-old former Army intelligence analyst faces up to 90 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy site. He was convicted in July of espionage, releasing classified information, disobeying orders and leaking intelligence knowing that it would be accessible to the enemy.
Manning took the stand and gave the statement as part of the defense team's effort s to persuade the judge to issue a lighter sentence.
"I should have worked more aggressively within the system. Unfortunately, I can't go back and change things," Manning, wearing his dress uniform and glasses, his hair in a crew cut, said from the witness stand.
He did not appear to be reading from notes and looked at the judge and around the room as he spoke.
"I understand I must pay a price for my decisions," Manning continued in his first lengthy public statement since February.
The statement from Manning was his first since he was found guilty of espionage for funneling the documents to the anti-secretary website WikiLeaks. The soldier has kept his silence since his trial began on June 3.
Manning was acquitted on charges of aiding the enemy on July 30, but was convicted on most other charges. Aiding the enemy carried a potential life sentence and was the most serious charge against Manning. His acquittal on that charge may be a sign that the judge does not intend to seek the harshest punishment possible against Manning.
The judge ruled last week that several of the charges facing Manning were duplicates, decreasing his maximum sentence to 90 from 136 years.
Meanwhile, a military psychiatrist earlier on Wednesday testified that Manning showed signs of behavioral disorders that got worse when he felt stress, and during deployment in Iraq he was considering whether to live as a woman.
The psychiatrist, Army Cmdr. David Moulton, testified during the defense portion of the sentencing hearing for Manning, who was convicted last month of espionage and other charges for leaking 700,000 secret government documents.
Moulton testified that Manning had a troubled childhood, with two alcoholic parents, and grew up neglected. In basic training, Manning was seen for “tantrum fits of rage,” the commander said.
That behavior grew worse with stress, and culminated with an incident in Iraq in April 2010, when Manning was found curled in a ball, clutching a knife, and then lashed out, striking a fellow soldier, he said.
Manning showed signs of narcissism, borderline personality disorder and obsessive compulsivity, the commander said.
He said that Manning’s biggest stressor was gender confusion. Manning was considering whether he wanted to become a woman, but he was in an environment where he couldn’t talk openly about that, Moulton said.
An earlier defense witness, psychologist Capt. Michael Worsley, said that Manning was in a “hyper-masculine environment” and had little support after he opened up about gender identity issues.
“Really there was just me,” Worsley said, adding that Manning was even “taking a chance with that” because being openly gay in the military was violation of military code at the time.
During cross-examination, military prosecutors tried to show that Manning isolated himself and snubbed overtures from his fellow soldiers, referring to online chats in which Manning called other soldiers “ignorant red necks.”
A military judge, Army Col. Denise Lind, will determine the sentence. Wednesday is expected to be the final day of the defense portion of the sentencing hearing.
Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, has said he was disillusioned by an American foreign policy bent on “killing and capturing people” when he released the documents, including battlefield reports, to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks in 2010.
Manning faced a general court-martial, which entitles him to an automatic appeal to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals. That could take place within about six months of his sentencing.
The statement he made Wednesday was not Manning’s first in court. At a hearing in February, he read 35 pages of remarks that offered his public explanation for the leaks. He said he did it to “spark domestic debate” on foreign policy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Manning painted himself as a young man with an "insatiable thirst for geopolitical information" and a desire for the world to know the truth about what was happening in the wars. He said he became increasingly disillusioned after being sent to Iraq by actions that “didn’t seem characteristic” of the United States.
Reuters contributed to this story
Related:
- Bradley Manning should get Nobel Peace Prize, says rights group
- Manning's Wikileaks breach helped al Qaeda recruiting, prosecution witness says
- Judge reaches verdict in Bradley Manning case
