Bradley Manning was cleared of the charges that he was aiding the enemy, the most serious charge that was placed against him. A US military judge issued the verdict that although Manning's secrecy violations were criminal, theses were not as terrible as prosecutors alleged.

Manning, a former soldier, revealed US diplomatic cables and raw intelligence reports from battlefields in Iran and Afghanistan to WikiLeaks. In addition, he violated his military oath and "put real lives and real careers at risk," according to P.J. Crowley, a former State Department spokesman. However, Crowley stated that the strategic damage this leaked information caused the US was "transitory".

WikiLeaks is an international, online organization that "publishes secret information, news leaks, and classified media from anonymous sources", according to Wikipedia. It is a non-profit organization and relies mainly on donations. Last year, it received US$68,000 in donations, which was almost half the amount of donation it received in 2011. However, expenses of the organization increased from US$519,000 to US$850,000 in 2010 and 2011, respectively. In 2012, its expenses amounted to more than US$507,000.