Brig counselor Master Sergeant Craig Blenis (the man who deceived Manning about his psychiatrist's recommendations) testifies.
http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/ft-meade-12212-pressured-from-above-quantico-counselors-fail-to-advocate-for-bradley-manning
Note that he once withheld a package from Manning because, as he said in his email, “we just felt like being dicks.”
He stressed that Bradley’s minimal communication with him didfactor heavily in his decision. Although he testified that Bradley was a generally quiet guy, that they didn’t share many interests, and that Bradley did open up about his interest in computers and his struggle with his family relationships, Bradley frequently gave very short answers to MSGT Blenis’s questions, and seemed to just want their discussions to end. Staff Sergeant Ryan Jordan, who also testified for this motion, sometimes filled in for MSGT Blenis as Bradley’s counselor. He testified that Bradley was quiet and didn’t want to talk at length — even though he also testified that he and Bradley liked to talk about college basketball. Bradley was a Syracuse fan, and he filled out a March Madness bracket and followed the tournament. SSgt. Jordan still said Bradley’s otherwise quiet demeanor was a consistent cause for concern.
MSGT Blenis called this poor communication, and said he could never build a relationship with Bradley to be able to trust him not to harm himself. But other testimony suggests Bradley had good reason not to build a rapport with MSGT Blenis. Bradley said this week that MSGT Blenis indicated to him multiple times that Cpt. Hoctor’s recommendations kept him on POI – even though Cpt. Hoctor, who did build an amiable rapport with the young Army private, repeatedly advised the brig to remove Bradley’s restrictions, and became frustrated when he realized he was being ignored.
MSGT Blenis denied this claim, but evidence shows he wasn’t always acting Bradley’s best interest. On December 13, 2010, a package arrived at Quantico for Bradley. MSGT Blenis asked Bradley about the package, and he said it was probably for his birthday, which was four days later. MSGT Blenis then rejected the package behind Bradley’s back – in an email to his CO explaining the rejection, he said the relative wasn’t an approved sender, but also that “we just felt like being dicks.” In a later conversation, Bradley was withdrawn and didn’t feel like communicating with the counselor because he was upset that his family had ignored his birthday.
In another email, on March 4, 2011, two days after Quantico officials removed Bradley’s underwear and one day after he was forced to stand naked for the morning count, MSGT Blenis emailed fellow officials telling them take Bradley’s “panties” from him “right before he lays down.”
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