FT. MEADE, Md. (CN) - Pfc. Bradley Manning said he had no allegiance to the U.S. flag or nation, his former supervisor testified Friday for the first time in public court, her third time on the stand.
In their case in chief, several government witnesses said they found no evidence that Manning expressed any "anti-American" beliefs. Prosecutors are beginning to elicit such testimony for the first time in their rebuttal case to support a conviction of "aiding the enemy."
Trial evidence has shown that Manning, a 5-foot-2, gay intellectual during the time of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, endured ridicule and alienation from other soldiers in his unit.
His interactions were particularly rocky with a former supervisor, ex-Spc. Jihrleah Showman.
Showman has admitted that she called Manning "faggotty" for not being able to do many push-ups, and Manning's online chat history shows that he privately talked about having punched Showman, whom he called a "dyke," in the face.
Lead defense attorney David Coombs played a clip from the documentary "We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks" to demonstrate the tension between the two soldiers. "I couldn't believe he messed with me," Showman says in the film. "I literally have 15-inch biceps. I'm probably the last person he should have punched."
In her third time taking the stand Friday, Showman made an allegation that had previously been withheld from open court.
"He said the flag meant nothing to him, and that he considered himself not to have allegiance to this country or any people," Showman said, describing a conversation she allegedly had with Manning in August 2009.
She noted that she gave this testimony before in closed court session.
Showman said she reported the comment to Master Sgt. Paul Adkins, and that she also told this supervisor that she called Manning a "possible spy."
Adkins allegedly ignored both reports, taking no action to keep someone deemed disloyal from accessing a top-secret clearance.
On cross-examination, Showman admitted that she never noted the flag incident in her supervisory reports.
Coombs asked Showman if she had ever heard the Army motto, "If it's not in writing, it didn't happen."
Showman agreed that she heard of the saying.
This is apparently not the first time that Showman had trouble remembering to report Manning's alleged sentiment about the flag.
The Army's Criminal Investigation Division interviewed Showman multiple times after Manning's arrest in May 2010, but Showman did not relate the flag incident until her second interview in April 2011.
As for the first interview, in March 2011, Showman told the court Friday: "I don't remember anything that was said in that interview. Nothing."
She also claimed to have a spotty memory of her stint on the silver screen, saying that she did not even know, until her parents told her, that the Alex Gibney documentary was released a month before Manning's trial.
Coombs suggested that Showman's appearance in the film was evidence of her personal vendetta to embarrass Manning on the eve of his trial.
Without specifically identifying it as an outtake from "We Steal Secrets," Coombs also rolled tape of audio depicting Showman telling an interviewer: "That's not a whistle-blower. That's someone who, in my opinion, has no allegiance to this country."
It is unclear how Manning's defense obtained the outtake.