Story highlights Manning was convicted of stealing 750,000 pages of documents

Defense Secretary Ash Carter objected to President Obama's decision

Washington (CNN) Chelsea Manning thanked Barack Obama on Thursday after the President commuted the sentence of the former Army soldier earlier this week.



"Thank you @BarackObama for giving me a chance. =,)," she tweeted.

Thank you @BarackObama for giving me a chance. =,) — Chelsea Manning (@xychelsea) January 19, 2017

Manning was convicted of stealing 750,000 pages of documents and videos before leaking them to WikiLeaks.

Manning, a transgender woman, requested to transfer to a civilian prison after being sent to Fort Leavenworth, an all-male Army prison in eastern Kansas. She was sentenced in 2013 to a 35-year term.

A White House statement on Tuesday said her prison sentence is set to end on May 17.

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