A US military judge ruled that Bradley Manning's motive for allegedly leaking a huge cache of secret files to WikiLeaks is no defence against the long list of charges he faces.
Manning, an army private who was arrested in May 2010 while serving as an intelligence analyst in Iraq, faces trial in June for passing diplomatic cables and war logs to the anti-secrecy website run by Julian Assange.
Manning's lawyers had argued that evidence should be heard at trial about why the soldier chose to illicitly transmit the confidential documents to WikiLeaks, but the request was largely thrown out.
In what amounts to a boost for the government, Judge Denise Lind, a colonel, yesterday said Manning's motive was not a valid defence.
Much of the ruling, given at the latest pre-trial hearing at the Fort Meade military base in Maryland, near Washington, was inaudible to reporters because of technical difficulties with the live television link to the courtroom.
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But a US Army legal advisor confirmed afterwards that Manning's motive could only be examined to argue that he did not "knowingly aid the enemy," chiefly Al-Qaeda, by uploading and releasing the files.
"In those circumstances evidence can be presented, but otherwise, motive is not relevant, unless the government opens the door in some other way," the advisor said, explaining the judge's ruling.
Manning's motives, however, could resurface in mitigation at sentencing if he bids for leniency upon an eventual conviction.
WikiLeaks published the files on the Internet in several massive "data dumps," causing deep embarrassment in Washington, outrage among US allies and culminating in the biggest security breach in American history.
Advocates of government transparency say the cables and war logs relating to Iraq and Afghanistan shed light on US activities abroad, but opponents say they endangered diplomats and their sources and were a gift to America's enemies.
Manning's trial on 22 counts of breaching national security and committing misconduct has been delayed several times but is now scheduled to start on June 3.
The 25-year-old faces life imprisonment if he is convicted of the most serious charge that he "aided the enemy," that is if he acted in the knowledge the information could eventually be accessed by Al-Qaeda and its affiliates.