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Testimony from Col. Carl Coffman, who served as the Special Court Martial Convening Authority from August 2010 to the summer of this year, indicates avoiding media attention may have played a role in delaying the government’s processing of the case of Pfc. Bradley Manning. The soldier, who is accused of releasing classified information to WikiLeaks, has been in pre-trial confinement for around nine hundred days and his defense argues his Sixth Amendment rights have been violated.
Coffman took the witness stand to provide testimony in support of the government’s argument against a defense motion alleging Manning’s speedy trial rights have been violated. He discussed how he had signed delays that repeatedly pushed back a preliminary hearing called an Article 32 hearing, which must be held in order to determine whether to proceed to a court-martial. He explained some of the process for ordering and convening a sanity board to review whether Manning was mentally fit to determine whether he was mentally fit and understood the charges against him.
Sanity boards convened for military cases are not always ordered. When they are, they usually consist of doctors from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Coffman said because Manning’s “suicide risk” while held in detention in Kuwait and his transgender issues were part of why he ordered the board.
In early August 2010, Coffman ordered the sanity board but the board was delayed, according to Coffman, because members of the board had to secure proper security clearances “in order to conduct the board.” Preliminary classification reviews of information were also being conducted to determine what Manning was going to talk about before the sanity board.
When Coffman ordered it to restart on February 3, 2011, the board had more problems. The members had scheduling conflicts themselves. The board had a difficult time scheduling time in a secure intelligence facility that they needed to use to complete their evaluation. Coffman also instructed them to meet and conduct their work during after-hours on weekdays or on weekends.
Questioned by military prosecutor Cpt. Hunter White, Coffman stated he knew it was a “high visibility case and just didn’t feel the need for Pfc. Manning to be exposed to a bunch of media attention on his way to conduct an interview before the sanity board.” Government facilities are not too crowded on the weekend, he added. It is “typically the best time to be discreet.”
“He’s been accused of something,” Coffman answered. “He doesn’t need the media attention or any other attention for that matter.”
On first glance, this answer appears to show a concern for the rights of the accused. The defense may have even appreciated the thought that Coffman gave to giving this instruction so media would not be publishing more stories with headlines suggesting Manning was insane. But, Coffman really did not set the sanity board up to only meet after hours on weekdays or on weekends to shield Manning from the press. He did it to shield the military and the US government from the press.
David Coombs, Manning’s defense attorney, asked Coffman during his cross-examination about the “guidance” he gave on when the sanity board should meet. He asked him about how the prosecution had only been able to schedule time in a secure intelligence facility on Saturdays. Coffman did not recall if this was exactly how everything panned out, but, if this was so, he said they would have been following what he instructed.
Pfc. Manning had to be moved to and from the facility and in and out of vehicles, Coffman explained. “This was getting a lot of attention in the media. We already had experiences with different agencies and organizations coming out and expressing their opinions.” It was “easier” on the sanity board to “have privacy.”
If “the media finds out,” Coffman said, “It then becomes a public event.” I was “just trying to prevent it from becoming a public event.”
Presumably, the military did not want press their with cameras taking photos of Manning arriving and leaving. They also did not want demonstrations or rallies outside facilities. Meeting only on Saturdays also did not necessarily guarantee the sanity board would remain under wraps (however, based on lack of information known to press and public from the spring of 2011 when the board met to now, it appears to have worked).
Dr. Michael Sweda, a psychologist who was part of the board, was having difficulty “coordinating suitable dates” because the board was only to meet on Saturdays. A memorandum Sweda sent indicated he needed an “additional 57 days” because he was having trouble getting times for the final interview, which was to take place in a secure intelligence facility. These concerns were made clear to the prosecution, but Coffman interpreted the complication as a typical issue caused by members working in different places. Sweda requested the board meet on days besides the weekend, but, according to Coffman, he didn’t recall that.
Around this time, Coffman approved an extension moving the board’s deadline for completion of the sanity board to April 16. Then, on April 15, when that deadline could not be met and the board wanted until April 29 to complete the evaluation, he allowed the board to delay its final report one more time and set a date of completion for April 22.
It is known that the military has been concerned about the attention this case attracted and the protesters, who might show up to support Manning. In August, Coombs spoke in court about emails between commanders and officers at the Quantico Marine brig that it had discovered the prosecution had and knew existed after 84 emails were given to the defense. The defense found out there were nearly 1,300 emails from the brig, where Manning was held in detention and conditions that essentially amounted to solitary confinement. Six hundred were given to the defense in August and later Judge Army Col. Denise Lind ordered all but 12 of the remaining hundreds of emails to be handed over to the defense.
Coombs described in court how the emails showed negative media attention was of more importance to the brig commanders than whether Manning was being treated unlawfully or inhumanely. He had been able to tell from the 84 emails released already how concerned the brig was with how the media would make the brig look in their coverage. They did not want anything to happen. They wanted to do what they wanted and keep him in maximum custody and suicide risk and do everything they could to prevent negative publicity. For example, he said one email noted that Manning’s friend, David House, visited and was turned away and the military needed to do a better job of having “spin” ready for media when this happened again. Likewise, when Manning was forced to stand naked, Coombs said the public affairs staff wanted to make sure they had “spin” the next time this happened.
In January 2011, protesters were on the base and Manning was placed on suicide risk. Officers at the brig thought the protests had made life difficult and so they were going to make life difficult for Manning. It was, Coombs suggested, no coincidence the guards placed Manning on suicide risk the same day there had been protests.
“While a three-star general was ordering Bradley suffer senselessly abusive treatment at Quantico, the Convening Authority in his court martial was trying to shield him from the public view,” said Jeff Paterson of the Bradley Manning Support Network. “Military officials were happy to draw media attention to themselves when condemning Bradley as a traitor or suggesting blood was on his hands. But while he was enduring what many describe as torturous conditions, they were suddenly very concerned for Bradley’s privacy.”
The priority then-Special Court Martial Convening Authority Carl Coffman placed on controlling the story and preventing the press from being able to cover the sanity board clearly prolonged the process. It is not necessarily the sole reason why it is questionable whether Manning’s speedy trial rights have been respected. However, it did result in months of delay. The preliminary Article 32 hearing, which was held in December 2011, would likely have been held much earlier if this focus on keeping what was happening with the case secret had not existed.
22 Comments
Regardless of the stated reason for this delay it shows clearly how “our” government is working to punish this whistleblower and deter future whistleblowers. This is like reading the exploits of some South American or Eastern European military junta.
this post may have solved the mystery of why manning was soviciously mistreated for so long while in solitary confinement at quantico.
the sanity board hearing was being delayed on hope that manning would break. instead he proved extraordinarily tough mentally.
The govt is dragging this out as long as possible. Manning has alread been pronounced guilty by o so it is unlikely that there is any chance that Manning will be acquitted or not given a maximum sentence. What the govt would like is for this case to disappear entirely so that there are no repercussions for whatever harsh sentence is imposed. Thanks, Kevin, for staying on top of it.
Everyone involved here including President Obama have sworn to uphold the Constitution. Not seeing it so far.
The defense should probably determine if this onerous scheduling, and concomitant delays, ever applied to any other prisoner awaiting a sanity hearing in the military. I mean, almost all of the people under such a hearing have been ‘charged with something,’ right? So what made Bradley Manning special that the sanity hearing had to be conducted off-time and in such secrecy? Surely not concern for the soldier, or all such hearings would be so conducted, right?
This is not the actions that I served in the USAF to protect.
But it is also not all that much of a surprise
Obama is Commander in Chief, and a Democrat (so obviously he cares about things like civil liberties). So, why is this shit going down?
IOW, the emails that Coombs got the judge to force the prosecution to turn over detail the motives of avoiding embarrassment and the visibility of public protest. And that affected the timing and situation of the sanity hearing. And complicated the process in a way that led to the long delay.
Which was just another peachy keen way of punishing Bradley Manning before he faced court martial. Win-Win for the Gov
Bradley did not pay $38k to attend a dinner with BO at the Fig & Olive. If he had this whole whistleblower thing would be bygones.
Thank you once again for superior journalism/reporting, Kevin!
So! Like I said yesterday, how many more ways does the Military and DOJ need to shame themselves on this case?
Clearly, they violated his rights due to trying to keep out the public and the press. That is all, and it is overdone. It is so burnt you can’t stick a fork in it anymore.
That is also your answer as to why the rest of the media world has tried to bury this story. The Military and DOJ did everything they could to stop the story. GO, KEVIN! GO! All ye journalists with a smidgeon of decency should start now making up for lost time!
probably a dumb question, but what top secret materials would be pertinent to determining a person’s sanity? or was it revealing the atrocities that compelled Bradley to his sane act of whistleblowing that was the gov’ts problem?
My reading of that question is the domestic politics and the politics within the military. The GOP effort to delegitimize Obama was meant to undercut his authority to get the military to follow his orders as much as to reduce public support. Obama has worked very hard to earn the respect of the military and especially the enlisted men. That is part of why he did the surge in Afghanistan the way he did, why Michelle Obama worked hard on the issues facing military families, and also why he cashiered Gen. McChrystal for insubordination (although it was sugar-coated as a retirement). To interfere in the military’s handling of the Bradley Manning case would create serious pushback from officers who consider Manning a traitor, both internally and through the media. My guess, and it is a SWAG, is that the President hopes that the military justice system works to come to some sort of closure on the case in terms of US law in a way that does not force him to have to personally make a decision about it.
The other issue is the President’s view of the now-acknowledged Northern Virginia District US grand jury investigation of Wikileaks that is going on.
Whatever a person with the authority to classify something as top secret chose to classify. It is a runaway process now, and it’s not based on any underlying reality of what information actually compromises national security.
I followed Bradley Mannings case pretty closely and never heard anything that would call his sanity into doubt, inspite of the USG’s best efforts to drive him around the bend. Seemed to me as if this young man was holding up exceptionally well under the circumstances.
Pet strategy of DOJ and operatives at US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for the purpose of justifying lowering the bar of justice and compensation for their opponent and one of the reasons DOJ keeps their stable of “psychiatrists” at Walter Reed Army Medical Center anyone of which no one can id in accomplishment or identity. These “medical experts” are also used to harass/torture the opponent in pseudo medical evaluations in processes prior to court appearance and have no problem lying their asses off on the witness stand under oath. One has to ask what blackmail/snitch relationship keeps these people in place or if they just are foolish, professionals flouters of Dharmaraja.
Sounded like it wasn’t the usual stable of Walter Reed psychs. Why would they have got get additional clearances?
WOW, so the highest visibility case in their docket and they can’t get the facilities reserved for their use? With nearly the entire staff involved being military and on call 24/7/365 with this one major case on their desk and they have sceduling conflicts? This is the kind of crap I expect of E3′s not any officer or senior officer.
The excuses of trying to keep Manning’s movements to and from the site where the evaluation was being undertaken is pure bull. How many windowless prisoner transport vehicles does the DoD own? I’m thinking more than one and I’ve seen them use up to ten of them transporting prisoners.
Pretty much, they just made life hellish for Manning hoping he would off himself and they wouldn’t have to deal with the issue.
All of the officals involved in this fiasco really need to be reprimanded for poor performance in thier duties.
Hm. In general, the clearance process is not really what most folks assume it to be because they’ve never been the subject of it or involved in the process and it’s not a process set in stone. At its worst, the security clearance process is not about qualifying that the person tells the truth at any time or all the time or on demand but about whether or not the person will divulge all to the “Feds” (a hierarchical system with black box compartments) yet keep their secrets on their terms despite any discontinuities. So, think about what that means about these who the public was allowed to know had gone through a security clearance process.
i suppose it could have been worse. manning could have been subjected to the “man in the iron mask” treatment that was imposed on jose padilla.
why was that done to jose padilla? it was because he was the third man involved in OKBOMB. and other agent provocateur activities. which had to be hidden from the bahhing populace.
the only thing that may have saved manning from that “end game” was that he wasn’t a latino, and the bloodlust after the agent provocateur op known as 911 had lost most of its “freshness”.
by the way, whatever has been done to bradley manning was done under instructions from the commander in chief, president barry obombya. the military does not do these things without commands from the top of the chain.
that is the snake that you re-elected.
To put some perspective on this, nothing with a classification level above Secret is involved. Furthermore, some 3-4 million people have clearances that allow them access to such material. An existential threat this ain’t….
Splendid try — but Obama has already declared Manning guilty. Innocent until proven….
An oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution trumps a desire for support from the troops.