Former Rep. Ron Paul believes that Chelsea Manning — previously known as Bradley Manning — has done enough time in custody for the WikiLeaks scandal and should be released.

Paul, who made his comments at a Reddit AMA session on Thursday, agreed that Manning should’ve been punished for practicing civil disobedience and breaking the law, but Manning’s time served until now, as well as the other factors in the case, should prompt Manning’s release.

“He deserves some punishment, but he has already received (in my estimation) excessive amounts of punishment. He has been in prison for over 3 years as well as tortured, and most military personnel who are caught committing war crimes never receive any penalties.” Paul wrote when asked about Manning’s sentence.

“I think he should be released now, that he has done us a great service by letting the people know the truth[. He’s] a whistleblower in my estimation (even the courts did not charge him with aiding the enemy), and I believe his goal was to inform the American people of the truth about what was happening in the Iraq / Afghanistan Wars,” the veteran politician who now runs his own Internet show wrote.