Chelsea Manning loses bid to quash subpoena in Virginia

[March 06, 2019]    (Reuters) - Chelsea Manning on Tuesday lost a bid to quash a subpoena compelling her to testify in front of a grand jury, according to media reports and a group supporting her.

Chelsea Manning speaks at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, U.S., March 13, 2018. REUTERS/Suzanne Cordeiro/File Photo

Manning is a transgender U.S. Army soldier who served seven years in military prison for leaking classified data while she was working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. She was granted clemency by former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Manning is expected to return to the courthouse in Alexandria on Wednesday, according to Chelsea Resists!, a group that supports her.

It is not clear why Manning is being compelled to appear in court. In remarks made outside the Virginia courthouse, Manning said she opposed grand juries in general and that her team thinks they "still have grounds to litigate," the Washington Post reported.

Manning was convicted by court-martial in 2013 of espionage and other crimes because she furnished more than 70,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables to Wikileaks, an organization that publishes information from anonymous sources.

In November, U.S. prosecutors revealed they were pursuing a criminal case against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and had obtained a sealed indictment against him.

Lawyers for Manning and representatives from the courthouse did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Tom Brown)

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