Reality Winner: Woman Accused of Leaking Top Secret Intelligence

A federal contractor from Augusta, Georgia, was just charged by the Department of Justice for leaking classified information regarding the supposed 2016 cyberattack by the Russian military Intelligence of The Intercept, a news organization funded by eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar.

Winner, who is only 25 years old, has not been in the public eye prior to the news of her recent arrest. Only limited information about her is currently available.

However, we do know that Winner is a contractor forPluribus International Corporation. Officials say that she had been working at an unidentified government facility in Georgia since about February 13. This information was obtained by a special agent with the FBI, Justin C. Garrick, who wrote the affidavit in support of the application for Winner’s arrest warrant.

While it cannot be confirmed, it is likely that Winner worked at the one employee location listed on the Pluribus International Corporation’s website. This location would be Fort Gordon, a United States Army installation. Pluribus International Corporation has yet to comment on Winner’s arrest.

FBI special agent Garrick says that Winner had top security clearance at her job. According to this investigation, she printed and improperly removed the classified intelligence report on May 9th, 2017. The material had been dated just a few days earlier on May 5th.

On May 30th, The Intercept reached out to the government to comment on the story it was planning to run in regards to the leaked information, and the FBI was alerted the following day on June 1st.

In the affidavit written by Garrick, he claims that Winner confessed to him on June 3rd. As a result, she was formally charged with removing and mailing classified material to a press outlet this Monday; she has not yet entered any sort of plea.

According to her attorney, she will remain in federal custody and a detention hearing will be held this Thursday. The hearing will determine whether or not Winner will be released prior to her trial date.

Prior to this incident, Winner was an Air Force Linguist who spoke several languages, including Farsi, Pashto, and Dari. Her attorney says that she recently began working as a yoga instructor at Oh Yeah Yoga, a studio in Augusta.

Annalisa Adams, owner of the yoga studio, describes Winner as a “reliable” employee. Adams claims that she first taught at her studio in January, and although began doing “sub stuff” she was eventually “so reliable- I gave her two classes.” She says that Winner was always extremely professional and that she, as well as other employees at the studio, were completely shocked by her arrest.

Winners attorney, Titus Thomas Nichols, describes her as a “good person with no criminal history who is caught in a political whirlwind.” Her mother added that she is a “very passionate” person who is highly outspoken about her beliefs.

Billie Winner-Davis, Reality’s mother, described her daughter to The Daily Beast as, “very passionate about her views and things like that, but she’s never to my knowledge been active in politics or any of that.” Her step-father Gary Davis says that,“She’s a veteran, six years’ service of the Air Force,” and that “She received commendations during that time. She’s just a passionate young woman who probably made some mistakes.” Davis says that while you may not agree with his step daughters politics, she is a patriot.

According to analysis of Winner’s social media presence, she is often very critical of President Donald Trump and is highly concerned with environmental issues.

Featured Image Via wikimedia