Judge rejects Chelsea Manning’s bid to quash subpoena

A federal judge in Virginia has reportedly rejected a bid from former U.S. Army soldier Chelsea Manning to quash a subpoena demanding her testimony before a grand jury.

“The motion to quash, it was denied. We still have grounds to litigate so we’re going to be here tomorrow,” Manning told reporters outside a courthouse Tuesday, according to CNN.

Manning also said she was unsure why exactly federal prosecutors were interested in her testimony, according to CNN.

“They told us that they’re just interested in me appearing so what questions they ask me I don’t know,” she added of the subpoena, which was reportedly filed earlier this year. “We certainly don’t know — we can speculate like anyone else.”{mosads}

Manning, a former Army intelligence officer convicted in 2013 of leaking confidential information to WikiLeaks, has previously signaled her opposition to testifying before the grand jury. Manning said Tuesday she hopes to continue fighting the subpoena.

A site dedicated to raising money for her legal defense asserted that the subpoena is likely “related to her 2010 disclosures of information about the nature of asymmetric warfare to the public.”

“Following in the footsteps of scores of other activists, Chelsea is challenging the grand jury subpoena, and therefore risks being placed in jail for for up to 18 months if she is found ‘in contempt’ of court,” a statement on her legal defense page added.

Manning had her prison sentence commuted by former President Obama in 2017. More recently, she unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Ben Cardin in Maryland’s Democratic Senate primary.