Hacker: WikiLeaks soldier ‘not trying to help the enemy’

A one-time computer hacker who told authorities private first class Bradley Manning was giving information to WikiLeaks testified yesterday that the soldier never said he wanted to help the enemy during their online chats.

Manning is on trial for giving hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks. He pleaded guilty to charges that could bring 20 years behind bars, but the military has pressed ahead with a court-martial on more serious charges, including aiding the enemy. That charge carries a potential life sentence.

Adrian Lamo, a convicted hacker, said he started chatting online with Manning on May 20, 2010, and alerted law enforcement the next day about the contents of the soldier’s messages, including his mention of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He said he continued chatting with Manning for six more days.

On cross-examination, Lamo said Manning never told him he wanted to help the enemy and did not express disloyalty to the US.

“At any time, did Pfc Manning ever say he wanted to help the enemy?” David Coombs, defending, asked.

“Not in those words, no,” Lamo said.

Prosecutors said they will show the 25-year-old army intelligence analyst effectively put US military secrets into the hands of the enemy, including Osama bin Laden. They said they will show that bin Laden requested and obtained the Afghanistan battlefield reports and state department cables published by WikiLeaks.

The soldier has said he did not believe the information would harm the US and he released it to enlighten the public about the bitter reality of America’s wars.

His attorney said Manning struggled privately with gender identity early in his tour of duty, when gay people couldn’t openly serve in the military. Those struggles led Manning to “feel that he needed to do something to make a difference in this world”, Coombs said.

Lamo testified that Manning had contacted him because of his notoriety in the hacking community. Lamo pleaded guilty in 2004 of computer fraud after he was arrested for hacking the computer networks of the New York Times and Microsoft. He was sentenced to six months house arrest and two years probation.

Manning chose to have his court-martial heard by a judge instead of a jury. It is expected to run all summer. Much of the evidence is classified, which means large portions of the trial are likely to be closed to reporters and the public.