President Obama commutes Chelsea Manning’s sentence to time served plus five months, paving the way for her release on May 17, 2017. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.

President Obama’s decision to commute Manning’s sentence will be a part of his legacy, much like Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich and George Bush’s pardon of Casper Weinberger.

From the WH announcement: pic.twitter.com/ThNoBQNMui

— Philip Bump (@pbump) January 17, 2017

Manning was prosecuted under the Espionage Act, which was a crime against the country. The commutation essentially says that Obama thought the punishment was too severe. The Obama administration has charged more people under the Espionage Act than any other administration.

Manning tried to commit suicide twice in prison.

Separately, President Obama pardoned Ret. Gen. James Cartwright, who pleaded guilty to misleading the FBI over his discussions with reporters about the Stuxnet worm virus used against Iran. He was not accused of any underlying misconduct.

Obama also commuted the sentence of  Puerto Rican independence advocate Oscar Lopez Rivera.

President Obama “has now commuted the sentences of 1,385 individuals – the most grants of commutation issued by any President in this nation’s history. President Obama’s 1,385 commutation grants – which includes 504 life sentences – is also more than the total number of commutations issued by the past 12 presidents combined. And with today’s 64 pardons, the President has now granted a total of 212 pardons,” the White House said in a statement.

Sounds like President Obama called Julian Assange’s bluff:

If Obama grants Manning clemency Assange will agree to US extradition despite clear unconstitutionality of DoJ case https://t.co/MZU30SlfGK

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 12, 2017

Here’s the reaction on Twitter:

VICTORY: Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning sentence from 35 years to 7. Release date now May 17. Background: https://t.co/HndsbVbRer

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 17, 2017

That is awesome. https://t.co/gLbjCEuGc2

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 17, 2017

So, does Assange surrender now?

— Shoq (@Shoq) January 17, 2017

President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning’s Sentence, Will Be Released May 2017