Leavenworth, May 11 (RHC)-- Imprisoned U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning will be freed next Wednesday, May 17th.  In 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking more than 700,000 classified files and videos to WikiLeaks about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and U.S. foreign policy. 

In January, the White House said she would be released on May 17th, after President Obama commuted her sentence.   This week, Chelsea Manning released a statement saying: "For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea.  I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world.  Freedom used to be something that I dreamed of but never allowed myself to fully imagine." 

Chelsea Manning's attorneys say she is already the longest-held whistleblower in U.S. history.