Obama commutes Chelsea Manning's sentence -- to be released in five months

President Barack Obama on Tuesday commuted a large part of Chelsea Manning’s remaining prison sentence, the New York Times reports.

The decision means Manning—who was convicted under the Espionage Act in July 2013 for leaking classified military and diplomatic documents to the transparency website WikiLeaks—will serve only five more months of her 35-year sentence. She’s been in prison for nearly seven years. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said while Manning’s leak was “damaging to national security,” the former U.S. Army soldier was found guilty and “acknowledged wrongdoing." Earnest contrasted her plea with that of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who similarly requested a pardon from President Obama.

“Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing,” Earnest told the Times. “Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary, and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy.”

Obama's decision recalls a January 12 Twitter post by Wikileaks—the recipient of Manning's documents—pledging that if the president grants the former U.S. Army soldier clemency, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will agree to face prosecution in the United States.