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April 25, 2011

Obama: Wikileaks Suspect Broke Law, Dismisses Similarity To Daniel Ellsberg 
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President Obama was questioned by supporters of accused U.S. Army
whistleblower Bradley Manning last week at a fundraiser in San
Francisco. Obama briefly discussed the issue after his event was
disrupted by protesters criticizing the government's harsh treatment of
Manning. The president's comments were recorded on a cell phone.

President Barack Obama and protester Logan Price: "We’re a nation of
laws! We don’t let individuals make their own decisions about how the
laws operate. He broke the law."

Logan Price: "Didn't he release evidence of war crimes?”

Obama: "What he did was he dumped…"

Price: "Isn't that just the same thing as what Daniel Ellsberg did?"

Obama: "No it wasn’t the same thing. Ellsberg’s material wasn’t
classified in the same way."

President Obama openly declared that Manning—who has yet to stand
trial—has broken the law. Obama also responded to a question comparing
Manning to Pentagon analyst Daniel Ellsberg who in 1971 leaked the
Pentagon Papers, detailing the secret history of U.S.-involvement in
Vietnam. According to President Obama, the cases are not similar
because, “Ellsberg’s material wasn’t classified the same way.”
In fact, the material disclosed in the Pentagon Papers was designated
Top Secret—the highest secrecy designation under law—whereas the
material allegedly leaked by Manning to Wikileaks was marked
“secret” or “classified,” among the lowest level secrecy
designations.



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