WikiLeaks: 'Forgotten Man' Could Be Key to US Investigation

(Dec. 17) -- Newly freed Julian Assange strongly denies that he ever conspired with the U.S. Army intelligence analyst suspected of providing WikiLeaks with classified information. He says he never even knew his name until it was published in the newspaper.

A link between Pfc. Bradley Manning and Assange could help make the case the U.S. government is said to be building against Assange, who was granted bail Thursday by a British judge and is living on an English estate as he fights extradition to Sweden on sex-crime allegations.

"WikiLeaks technology was designed from the very beginning to make sure that we never know the identities or names of people submitting material," Assange told ABC's "Good Morning America" today. "That way the sources can be guaranteed that they remain anonymous, as far as we are concerned."

Manning, 23, who has been detained in solitary confinement at the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va., for the past five months, is a key figure in what reportedly is an ongoing investigation by the U.S. government to bring criminal spying charges against Assange. He is sometimes called the "forgotten man" in the ongoing WikiLeaks saga.

Manning has apparently not cooperated with authorities so far, but Justice Department officials are said to be looking for evidence of collusion between him and Assange to build a case against the 39-year-old WikiLeaks founder.

The Independent newspaper reported today that the U.S. had offered Manning a plea bargain in exchange for his naming Assange as his co-conspirator.

But new information this week about how Manning has been detained under especially harsh and inhumane conditions led Assange to say that he is worried about Manning's mental health.

According to an article in Salon on Wednesday, Manning has been detained for a total of seven months (the first two in Kuwait) and subjected to measures that might be considered torture in many countries.

Manning is held in a very small, boxlike cell and allowed out only one hour per day, Salon reported. He is not even allowed a pillow or sheets for his bed and not allowed access to any news or current-events programs during his daily one hour outside his cell. He is being given antidepressants by military officials.

Salon said its sources for the story were "several people directly familiar with the conditions of Manning's detention, ultimately including a Quantico brig official (Lt. Brian Villiard)." Quantico officials were not available for comment, a representative told AOL News today.

"I have heard he is in poor mental health," Assange told reporters today from his temporary new home at an estate near Norfolk, England. "The solitary confinement is getting to him."

A computer researcher from Boston who visits Manning twice a month told the Guardian that he is starting to deteriorate.

"Over the last few weeks I have noticed a steady decline in his mental and physical well being," David House said. "His prolonged confinement in a solitary holding cell is unquestionably taking its toll on his intellect; his inability to exercise due to [prison] regulations has affected his physical appearance in a manner that suggests physical weakness."

Manning was arrested on July 29 after allegedly confiding in fellow computer hacker Adrian Lamo, who then turned him in to federal authorities. Manning faces a court-martial and a possible 52 years in prison for allegedly downloading the classified material while serving on an Army base outside Baghdad.

Some experts have said that if the U.S. hopes to indict Assange under the 1917 Espionage Act, it must prove a link involving solicitation or conspiracy between Manning and Assange. Otherwise, they say, the First Amendment could protect Assange, especially since he claims to be a journalist.

But New York attorney Floyd Abrams, an expert on constitutional law and the First Amendment, told AOL News today that the U.S. may have a good case against Assange even if Manning refuses to cooperate.

"The Espionage Act is very broad; one person called it 'singularly opaque,' " Abrams said. "It gives the government some considerable leeway when it comes to Assange." Abrams said a U.S. case against Assange might not hinge as much on Manning as it does on Assange himself.

"A lot of it has to do with the idea of acting in bad faith," Abrams said. "That's where Assange runs into problems. Regardless of whether he is considered a journalist, as he calls himself, he has made statements to the effect of wanting to harm the United States."

Abrams said that Assange's habit of seemingly taunting the U.S. has almost ensured that he will be targeted.

"Even if he had gone out of his way to portray himself as a journalist years ago, he's still done enough to really raise the ire of the U.S. By seeming to take such delight in embarrassing the U.S. and his threats to continue releasing the documents have made him a very unpopular figure over here."