Judge Begins 5-Day Hearing In Military Leak Case
FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) -- A defense attorney for an Army private charged in the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history is renewing a request to have two of the 22 charges against his client dropped.
The attorney for Pfc. Bradley Manning made his argument before a military judge Monday, the first day of a planned five-day hearing at Maryland's Fort Meade. Lawyers for Manning and the government are discussing a number of issues in advance of his trial, which is set for September.
Prosecutors say the now 24-year-old gave hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic cables and war logs to the secret-sharing website WikiLeaks. Manning's attorney argued Monday that two charges alleging Manning exceeded his authorized access to a Defense Department computer network are improper. The judge has yet to rule.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
