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Twitter Revelation in Manning Court-Martial

FT. MEADE, Md. (CN) - There is proof that Bradley Manning visited the WikiLeaks Twitter, a forensic analyst testified on rebuttal, submitting evidence he failed to uncover in the main case.

Though Manning generally does not deny that he is the source of the biggest disclosure of U.S. intelligence in history, he denies that he answered a plea from WikiLeaks for the official email addresses of military personnel, among other more troublesome charges.

Sometime after WikiLeaks posted such a request via Twitter on May 7, 2010, the website got its hands on a "Global Address List" with contact information for 74,000 military personnel stationed in Iraq.

Prosecutors say the Twitter post proves that Manning took cues from WikiLeaks to help the organization undermine military secrecy, but they had not shown before now that Manning ever browsed the WikiLeaks Twitter feed.

On redirect Thursday, they called their main forensic analyst, David Shaver, back to the stand to testify that he found such evidence in a new search. Though the witness still could not prove that Manning ever viewed this particular Tweet, he found web addresses on Manning's computer associated with two other WikiLeaks postings.

One dated Feb. 20, 2010, said, "Finally cracked the encryption to US military video in which journalists, among others, are shot. Thanks to all who donated $/CPUs."

This is an apparent reference to "Collateral Murder," video of an airstrike in Baghdad that Manning admits to having leaked.

The other Wiki-Tweet on Manning's computer links to a Gawker article reporting that Facebook had deleted an unofficial WikiLeaks fan page that had more than 30,000 followers.

Prosecutors tried to use this news to show that Facebook viewed WikiLeaks as illegitimate, but the linked article actually reported that the social media website only took the page down to avoid confusion with the official WikiLeaks fan page.

On cross-examination, Shaver delivered another hit to the government's case when he acknowledged that he found many other links to websites singing praises for WikiLeaks as a legitimate news outlet, a key defense argument.

One such link, a New York Times article, described the release of "Collateral Murder." "By releasing such a graphic video, one that a media organization had tried in vain to obtain through traditional channels, WikiLeaks has inserted itself in the national discussion about the role of journalism in the digital age," the article stated.

Another referred to a Time Magazine article stating that the WikiLeaks platform could be a journalistic tool on par with the Freedom of Information Act.

In addition to "Collateral Murder," Manning admits to having sent WikiLeaks more than 700,000 files, including diplomatic cables, incident reports from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and profiles of Guantanamo detainees.

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