file - this undated file photo provided by chelsea manning shows a portrait of her that she posted on her instagram account on thursday , may 18 , 2017 .
no one told me to do this .
manning said she had " a responsibility to the public " ... ( associated press ) file - this undated file photo provided by chelsea manning shows a portrait of her that she posted on her instagram account on thursday , may 18 , 2017 .
anything i ' ve done , it 's me .
 
manning said she had " a responsibility to the public " ... ( associated press ) new york ( ap ) — chelsea manning believed she had a " responsibility to the public " and did n't think she was risking national security when she leaked a trove of classified documents , the soldier said in her first interview since being released from a military prison last month .
manning at that time was a 22 - year - old army private named bradley manning .
xychelsea87 instagram when asked if she felt she owed the american public an apology , manning told " nightline " co - anchor juju chang in an exclusive interview on " nightline . "
the information she disclosed included low level battlefield reports from iraq and afghanistan , evidence of civilian deaths in iraq and afghanistan , guantanamo prison camp detainee profiles and u.s. diplomatic correspondence .