Bradley Manning's gender identity subject of court testimony

The Advocate reports: Bradley Manning kept a folder of articles on gender identity disorder and used a female alias in online chats, according to Saturday testimony in a pretrial court hearing for the Army private accused of leaking thousands of classified documents.

Manning, 24, had used the name Breanna Manning online, an Army special agent testified by phone from Germany under questioning by one of Manning’s defense attorneys. Two special agents with the Army Criminal Investigation Command testified Saturday during Manning’s Article 32 hearing at Fort Meade in Maryland, CNN reports.

Manning's gender identity has been the subject of media attention in the past, including a New York magazine profile in July. CNN writes that Manning's attorneys are seeking to "establish his state of mind at the time of the alleged crimes."

Charged with 22 counts of violating military code, Manning, the alleged Wikileaks source, wasn’t the only person who had leaked classified material, according to informant and convicted hacker Adrian Lamo: In testimony from a government witness, Lamo had also implicated a Department of Energy employee who allegedly aided in decrypting a classified video for Wikileaks.

The Army Court of Appeals late Friday rejected a request by Manning’s defense team to remove the presiding military officer in the case because of alleged bias. The presiding officer is tasked with deciding whether prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed with a trial.

Among Manning’s supporters who rallied outside Fort Meade was Lt. Dan Choi, known for his “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal activism; he was discharged under the policy last year. “I plan to march all night tonight and bring as much attention as I can to put the entire country on notice that we have a hero who’s standing trial for nothing more than telling the truth,” Choi told the AP.