At a time when we are battling cyberattacks and combating the notion that WikiLeaks is a respected news organization setting Manning free seems to convey exactly the wrong message to our enemies and to potential leakers at the wrong time. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter reportedly opposed the move, for obvious reasons. It may be that the entire intelligence community did as well. Despite weeks of acrimonious charges back and forth between the intelligence community and President-elect Donald Trump, Obama’s action — which Trump almost certainly will deplore — might actually help patch things up.

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Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) was furious. “When I was leading soldiers in Afghanistan, Private Manning was undermining us by leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks,” he said in a written statement. “I don’t understand why the president would feel special compassion for someone who endangered the lives of our troops, diplomats, intelligence officers, and allies. We ought not treat a traitor like a martyr.” He later told Jake Tapper on CNN, “Well, hundreds of thousands of pages of highly classified information were disclosed and there’s no doubt that it caused grave harm to our national security. And it’s important that we have a deterrent effect by stiff penalties when a Private in the United States army takes actions that no one in the military should take – certainly junior enlisted personnel.” Cotton stressed, “Again, Chelsea Manning’s sentence would have been coming up for review and possible parole in the future. I wish Barack Obama would have allowed the military justice system to proceed in due course rather than short-circuiting the sentence 28 years before it was set to expire.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was likewise apoplectic. “This is just outrageous. Chelsea Manning’s treachery put American lives at risk and exposed some of our nation’s most sensitive secrets. President Obama now leaves in place a dangerous precedent that those who compromise our national security won’t be held accountable for their crimes.” Likewise, Rep. William “Mac” Thornberry (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, put out a statement: “Inmate Manning was convicted of multiple acts of espionage against the United States and other serious military misconduct,” he said. “These actions potentially put our country and fellow soldiers at serious risk. The president’s commutation of Manning’s sentence sends a terrible message to the world that the penalties for damaging our security can be swayed by politics.”

Democrats didn’t exactly circle the wagons around the president. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who serves on the intelligence committee, denounced the move in an interview Tuesday afternoon on MSNBC. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) declared he had “serious concerns,” citing the security risks. “I don’t know what kind of message we are sending,” he said in regard to the Russian-WikiLeaks connection.