Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe, considered one of the foremost liberal authorities on constitutional law in the US and who taught the subject to President Barack Obama, has said to the Guardian that the charge against Bradley Manning could set a worrying precedent. He said:
"Charging any individual with the extremely grave offense of 'aiding the enemy' on the basis of nothing beyond the fact that the individual posted leaked information on the web and thereby 'knowingly gave intelligence information' to whoever could gain access to it there, does indeed seem to break dangerous new ground."Laurence Tribe, who advised the department of justice in Obama's first term, added that the trial could have "far-reaching consequences for chilling freedom of speech and rendering the internet a hazardous environment, well beyond any demonstrable national security interest."
