Chelsea Manning loses appeal, will remain in jail for contempt

April 22 (UPI) -- Chelsea Manning will remain in jail after a court rejected the former Army intelligence analyst's request for an appeal of her contempt charge.

Manning has been held in contempt since March 8 because she refused to testify to a grand jury, likely against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was arrested in London and faces extradition to the United States.

Manning was convicted in 2013 of leaking classified material to WikiLeaks.

"The court finds no error in the district court's rulings and affirms its finding of civil contempt," the order reads. "The court also denies appellant's motion for release on bail."

Manning will remain in jail until she agrees to answer questions. In her appeal, Manning argued that her rights were violated by the grand jury subpoena and that federal prosecutors used the subpoena to trap her.

Manning previously served seven years of her 35-year prison sentence. Former President Barack Obama commuted her sentence and she was released in 2017. Federal prosecutors allege that Manning requested help from Assange to crack a password on a Defense Department network that had classified information on it.

It's unclear whether Manning actually hacked that password with Assange's assistance. Assange is also accused of publishing classified material from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's email during the 2016 election.