The computer hacker who turned in Pfc. Bradley Manning testified that the WikiLeaker said he NEVER wanted to help the enemy.
In case you’ve been sleeping, Manning is on trial for giving hundreds of thousands of documents to the secret-spilling website WikiLeaks.
He plead guilty to charges that may land him 20 years behind bars, but the US military has pressed ahead with a court-martial on more serious charges– including the treasonous act of aiding the enemy. That charge carries a potential life sentence.
Convicted hacker, Adrian Lamo, testified he started chatting online with Manning on May 20, 2010, and promptly alerted law enforcement the next day about the contents of the soldier's messages, including his dalliance with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
On cross-examination, Lamo said Manning never told him he wanted to help the enemy and did not express any disloyalty to America.
"At any time, did Pfc. Manning ever say he wanted to help the enemy?" defense attorney David Coombs asked.
"Not in those words, no," Lamo replied.
Prosecutors charge Manning, the 25-year-old Army intelligence analyst, gave U.S. military secrets into the hands of the enemy — including the late terror kingpin Osama bin Laden.
The hacker, Lamo, pleaded guilty in 2004 of computer fraud after he was busted for hacking the the New York Times and Microsoft. In the plea deal he copped six months house arrest and two years probation.
Pfc. Manning chose to have his court-martial heard by a judge instead of a jury.
The court martial proceedings are is expected to run all summer.
The majority of the evidence is classified and key portions of the trial will be off-limits to the press and the public.
