Did that have anything to do with his gender identity problems? I thought it had to do with his political philosophy.
All I am saying is that, with the vigorous vetting process of say 30 years ago, it is unlikely that any of these people would have received a security clearance. IMO probably because they would have been viewed as potentially emotionally unstable; the blackmail issue is also valid. It may well be that the AF intel officer will prove to be totally reliable but I doubt she would have cleared vetting back then.
Gender identity problems are a serious mental illness. So that in itself is sufficient, plus Bradley Manning stated he wanted to get back at someone or some people in connection with his GIP, he was angry about that, in addition to political ideology.