Witness links private to secrets seen on WikiLeaks

Fort Meade: A computer-crimes investigator has testified he found more than 10,000 diplomatic cables and other sensitive information on the work computer of the Army private charged with spilling a mountain of secrets to WikiLeaks. Moreover, Special Agent David Shaver told a military hearing he discovered evidence that someone had used the computer to streamline the downloading of the cables with the apparent aim of “moving them out.” It was the government’s first hard evidence linking Pfc. [caption id=“attachment_159354” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Bradley Manning (centre). Reuters”]  [/caption] Bradley Manning with the wealth of confidential government information that showed up on WikiLeaks: battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, diplomatic communications, a military video showing a US helicopter attack that killed 11 men, and more. Shaver’s appearance capped the third day of a hearing that will determine whether Manning will be court-martialed on 22 charges, including aiding the enemy. The testimony was potentially the most damaging so far. Shaver said the material he found at the intelligence analyst’s workstation in Iraq was all linked to the username bradley.manning or Manning’s user profile. He said he examined two computers that were assigned to Manning while he was working in Baghdad in 2009 and 2010. The other machine, he said, contained evidence that someone had conducted more than 100 searches using the keywords “WikiLeaks” and “Julian Assange,” the organization’s leader. Those terms seemed “out of place” on a computer that was used for analyzing intelligence about Iraq, said Shaver, who is to be cross examined by Manning’s defense today. AP