United States diplomatic cables leak

Not to be confused with Kissinger cables or Lettergate.
This article is about the release of leaked U.S. diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks. For the contents of those cables, see Contents of the United States diplomatic cables leak. For reactions to the leak, see Reactions to the United States diplomatic cables leak.

Cablegate
DescriptionRelease of 251,287 United States diplomatic cables
Dates of cables1966–2010
Period of release18 February 2010 – 1 September 2011
Key publishersEl País, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, The Guardian, The New York Times, WikiLeaks
Related articlesAfghan War documents leak, Iraq War documents leak
SubjectData protection, First Amendment, freedom of information, freedom of speech

The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began on Sunday, 28 November 2010[1] when WikiLeaks began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and diplomatic missions around the world. Dated between December 1966 and February 2010, the cables contain diplomatic analysis from world leaders, and the diplomats' assessment of host countries and their officials.[2]

On 30 July 2013, Chelsea Manning was convicted for theft of the cables and violations of the Espionage Act in a court martial proceeding and sentenced to thirty-five years imprisonment. She was released on 17 May 2017, after seven years total confinement, after her sentence had been commuted by President Barack Obama earlier that year.

  1. ^ Wikileaks "Secret US Embassy Cables" Archived 28 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Welch, Dylan. "US red-faced as 'CABLEGATE' sparks global diplomatic crisis, courtesy of WikiLeaks" Archived 18 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 November 2010.