a2 eZ su the washington post.friday, march 13 , 2020
Happening todayFor the latest updates all day, visit
washingtonpost.com.all day | the national Building
Museum reopens after
renovations. For developments,
visit washingtonpost.com/style.
8 a.m. | david rubenstein,
president of the economic club of
Washington, hosts a conversation
with siemens aG chief executive
Joe Kaeser about geopolitical
issues such as trade and the
coronavirus. Visit
washingtonpost.com/business for
details.
8 a.m. | the american Bar
association holds a discussion
with John sopko, head of the
office of the special inspector
General for afghanistan
reconstruction. For developments,
visit washingtonpost.com/
national.
correctionl In some M arch 11 editions, a
Metro article about t he r esponse
of Christ Church Georgetown t o
the c oronavirus misidentified t he
university where William Nitze
co-teaches a course on a rtificial
intelligence and ethics. It i s
George Mason University, n ot
Georgetown University.
KLMNO
neWSpaper deLiVery
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“What I did, I did on my own
and chose to do it,” Hammond
said on the podcast.
Manning, likewise, has said
that she has nothing to offer
investigators and opposes grand
juries on principle as lacking
transparency and accountability.
In a statement at her military
trial, she said that “the decisions
that I made to send documents
and information” to WikiLeaks
“were my own.”
[email protected]for ending this grand jury now
beyond saying its “business” has
“concluded.”
A new grand jury could be
convened to investigate Wiki -
Leaks, but that process may be
complicated by containment
measures related to the s pread of
coronavirus.
Prosecutors were still at-
tempting to obtain information
from both Hammond and Man-
ning as recently as this week.
Manning unsuccessfully fought
an appearance before the grand
jury Tuesday, and in a podcast
interview, Hammond said he
was doing so as well.
Hammond said he was asked
by prosecutors whether Assange
had ever asked him to hack any
websites, given him a list of
targets, or agreed to publish
material he provided. He said he
did not answer any questions.yond the role of a journalist or
publisher in disseminating the
classified information.
Assange i s fighting e xtradition
from the United Kingdom to
Alexandria, arguing the case
against him is politically moti-
vated.
Hacker Jeremy Hammond,
who was also being held in civil
contempt for refusing to testify
before the WikiLeaks grand jury,
was also ordered released by
Trenga after five months of civil
contempt. But h e is s till s erving a
10-year prison sentence for cy-
berattacks on various govern-
ment agencies and businesses.
Trenga’s order rendered moot
the a rguments b y Hammond and
Manning that they could never
be coerced into testifying. In
Alexandria, grand jurors gener-
ally serve six to 18 months. The
judge did not explain his reasonstempted suicide in jail. Authori-
ties said they stepped in before
serious harm occurred.
In 2010, while serving as an
Army intelligence analyst in
Iraq, Manning shared with
WikiLeaks thousands of classi-
fied State and Defense Depart-
ment cables. She was sentenced
to 35 years in a military prison
but was released by President
Barack Obama after seven years.
Manning is still liable for
$256,000 in fines levied by the
judge for her refusal to testify.
Assange is now facing charges
in Alexandria under the Espio-
nage Act. Prosecutors contend
that by s oliciting t he information
from Manning and helping her
crack a password, he went be-BY RACHEL WEINERChelsea Manning w as r eleased
from jail Thursday after a federal
judge announced that the grand
jury investigating WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange h ad b een
disbanded.
“Ms. Manning’s appearance
before t he grand jury i s no longer
needed,” federal judge Anthony
J. Trenga of the Eastern District
of Virginia wrote. “Her detention
no longer serves any coercive
purpose.”
Manning had b een detained i n
the Alexandria Detention Center
for 11 months in civil contempt
for her refusal to testify. The
judge’s order comes a day after
the former Army private at-Chelsea Manning released from jail a day after suicide attempt
response to a national crisis.
Pelosi led the congressional
response to the financial
meltdown in 2008, when
markets crashed by then-record
levels after the House failed on
its first attempt to approve a
bailout for Wall Street.
The lack of confidence in the
government led to further
market crashes, something
Pelosi is trying to avoid.
“Right now, we have to find
our common ground, work
together to get this done as soon
as possible,” s he told reporters.
McCarthy also suggested the
need to restore confidence was
paramount, that division on
bigger things could wait for
future debates. “Remember, we
are elected policymakers and
leaders, this is our moment to
show that we will rise to the
occasion just as every other
American believes we should,” he
said.
But some Republicans
objected to the duration of some
of these programs and expressed
concerns about whether the
wording of a Medicaid provision
would violate prohibitions
against federal funding for
abortion.
“Some of the stuff that’s being
talked about in the House, those
are big sweeping change,” Senate
Majority Whip John Thune (R-
S.D.) said, predicting that
Congress staying in session next
week would help.
“The fact that Senate is
coming back in session next
week and not going into recess, I
think is going to bring, I would
expect, some calm and
reassurance to folks,” Thune
said.
Others said the focus should
be taking the time to best help
people directly affected by the
virus and then work longer term
on helping the economy.
“I don’t know that actions we
take are going to calm markets. I
think the markets recognize that
there’s going to be disruption
because of the coronavirus,”
Romney said. “There are things
we can do to help people who
have health issues, and there are
things we can do to help small
businesses.”
[email protected]a congressional intern as part of
an exchange program.
“Welcome home,” s he said.
After recounting the “mean
tour” he gave of the Capitol,
Vardakar urged the
congressional leaders to join a
global fight against the
pandemic. “We all have to work
together,” Vardakar said.
However, there was a missing
presence that symbolizes
Washington’s political
dysfunction: President Trump.
He is the first president to skip
the politically symbolic lunch
timed for St. Patrick’s Day since
George W. Bush bowed out just
days before starting the Iraq War
in 2003.
Trump declined to go out of
political pique following Pelosi’s
rebellious action of tearing up
his speech, on camera, after the
president finished his State of
the Union address last month.
That highly partisan speech,
coming a day after the Senate
concluded its three-week
impeachment trial, set the tone
for a government that is not in
the best atmosphere for a
unifying rally-around-the-flagdemonstrate continued
bipartisan support, following
last week’s overwhelming votes
to approve more than $8 billion
to help improve the health-care
system’s ability to deal with the
pandemic.
“So we don’t need 48 hours.
We need to just make a decision
to help families right now. We
have to operate not as business
as usual but in emergency status,
where we have to get the job
done,” s he said.
The initial Democratic draft,
released after 11 p.m. Wednesday,
included provisions such as
providing funds for people to get
coronavirus tests, mandatory
sick leave, extended
unemployment insurance
benefits and restructuring
federal food programs so
children whose schools close
could still access meals.
Pelosi went about her
Thursday trying to demonstrate
bipartisan spirit as she oversaw
the annual Friends of Ireland
luncheon with Irish Prime
Minister Leo Varadkar as the
guest of honor. She recounted
how, in 2000, Vardakar served asSenate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.) left the
Capitol before 2:30 p.m., not
planning to return until Monday
afternoon, with no chance for
Congress to approve anything
before global markets open
Monday.
“The speaker is still
negotiating with Mnuchin. The
House hasn’t even sent a bill
over and Leader McConnell
sends everybody home during a
crisis. That is so wrong,” Senate
Minority Leader Charles E.
Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters.
A few hours later, Schumer
went to the Senate floor asking
for unanimous approval of
several Democratic bills
designed to blunt the effect of
the economic panic over the
coronavirus. After GOP
objections, Schumer relented
and eventually left the Capitol
for the weekend.
After learning that McCarthy
boasted a deal could be finished
within 48 hours, Pelosi said that
it could come together even
faster if all sides just understood
the imperative of getting
something done immediately toCongress is
battling separate
political instincts
as it tries to calm
the public over
the spiraling health crisis and
reassure the sinking financial
markets that government can
rescue a global economy gripped
by fear.
Some leaders, particularly in
the House, contend that the
most immediate concern is a
unified response showing that
the federal government has set
aside partisan bickering, even if
it means quickly passing a more
modest legislative package.
“I do believe that it is critical
we get a small portion of this
done right now. I think it helps
give confidence,” House Minority
Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-
Calif.) told reporters at a
Thursday morning news
briefing.
A few minutes later, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)
echoed that sentiment, calling
suggestions from Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin “all
very reasonable” ahead of day-
long negotiations. Pelosi
dismissed questions about
shuttering the Capitol, despite a
growing number of lawmakers
and aides exposed to the novel
coronavirus, until this economic
packaged passes.
“We’re not planning a
schedule or anything else, until
we get that, until we get that
done,” Pelosi said.
Two hours later, that
sentiment met Senate
Republican resistance. GOP
senators want to slow things
down and take another week to
negotiate the final details on
what some are calling a stimulus
package. Republican senators,
exiting a closed-door luncheon,
professed that getting something
right was more important than
rushing through legislation that
might not accomplish much.
“I think the markets are a lot
smarter than Congress putting a
Band-Aid on something,” Sen.
Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said.
S o, rather than waiting out the
Pelosi-Mnuchin talks, the Senate
voted at 1:45 p.m. to confirm a
GOP nominee to an energy
commission and left town.Congress struggles to calm nation and markets amid pandemic
@PKCapitol
Paul Kanesusan Walsh/associated Press
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) bump
elbows as they attend a lunch with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Thursday on Capitol Hill.Justice in indian
country
this eye-opening report is the
product of a year-long investigation
into how the legal system in indian
country fails some of america’s
most vulnerable citizens—and what
is being done to begin to rectify an
ongoing tragedy. sari horwitz,
recipient of the asne award for
distinguished Writing on diversity,
traveled to an indian reservation in
Minnesota to interview a native
american woman who had been
sexually assaulted, as had her
mother and daughter. in each case,
the assailants, who were not native
american, were not prosecuted due
to loopholes in the laws on
jurisdiction of criminal prosecution
on indian reservations. this story
set her off on a journey across the
country, into remote villages and
tribal lands where horwitz
uncovered the widespread failures
of the american legal system and
its inability to protect native
american women and children.Frederick GAITHERSBURG Hagerstown
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