Reality Winner 6/12/2017

Reality Leigh Winner
Reality Leigh Winner
Born	December 1991 (age 25); Texas, United States
Residence	Augusta, Georgia
Nationality	United States
Citizenship	United States
Education	High school diploma
Alma mater	H. M. King High School
Occupation	Federal contractor
Employer	Pluribus International Corporation
Known for	Allegedly leaking an intelligence report detailing Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections to The Intercept
Home town	Kingsville, Texas
Criminal charge	18 U.S. Code § 793 - Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information
Criminal status	Arrested
	Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	2010–2016
Rank	Senior airman (E-4)
Unit	94th Intelligence Squadron
Awards	Air Force Commendation Medal

Reality Leigh Winner (born December 1991) is an American intelligence specialist employed by Pluribus International Corporation. Winner was arrested on June 3, 2017, on suspicion of leaking an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections to the news website The Intercept. The report suggested that Russian hackers attacked a U.S. voting software supplier.

Background[edit]

Reality Leigh Winner was born in December 1991 in Texas.^[4] She grew up in Kingsville, Texas, attending H. M. King High School where she excelled in athletics and tennis. She is vegan, a yoga and fitness enthusiast, passionate about the environment, and interested in spirituality. She adopted abandoned pets and sent gifts to children in Afghanistan.^[5]

Winner left the Air Force in early 2017, and was hired by Pluribus International Corporation a firm that provides experts to the National Security Agency.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]

Her new employers assigned her to work with NSA officials at a military base in Augusta, Georgia.^[10]

Political views[edit]

Winner has posted numerous anti-Trump views on both her Facebook and Twitter accounts.^[11]^[12] Before the 2016 presidential election she posted: "On a positive note, this Tuesday when we become the United States of the Russian Federation, Olympic lifting will be the national sport."^[13] She also wrote on her Facebook page that President Donald Trump is a "a soulless ginger orangutan".^[14] In her Twitter tweets she has said "the most dangerous entry to this country was the orange fascist we let into the White House”.^[11]^[12]^[15] On her Facebook page, she also voiced support for the candidate Bernie Sanders and environmental issues.^[14]^[16]

Federal agents found her diary during a search of her home in which she allegedly expressed support for Taliban leaders and Osama bin Laden. The U.S. magistrate judge who presided over Winner's bail hearing said, "She seems to have a fascination with the Middle East and Islamic terrorism," and quoted her writing: "It's a Christlike vision to have a fundamentalist Islamic state."^[17] One of the prosecutors said, "The government is not in any way suggesting the defendant has become a jihadist or that she is a Taliban sympathizer."^[18]

Career[edit]

Winner served in the United States Air Force from 2010 to 2016, achieving the rank of senior airman and serving with the 94th Intelligence Squadron.^[19]^[3] She served as a cryptologic linguist in the U.S. Air Force, being fluent in Farsi, Dari and Pashto. Winner was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal for her service.^[5]^[20] At the time of the leak and her arrest, she was employed by Pluribus International Corporation, which provides intelligence services to the United States government.^[21] On February 13, 2017, she was assigned to work in a U.S. government facility in Georgia.^[22]

Intelligence report leak and arrest[edit]

Winner was arrested on June 3, 2017. The U.S. Department of Justice announced news of her arrest on June 5, shortly after The Intercept published an article describing Russian attempts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, based on classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents leaked to them anonymously.^[23]^[24]

Based on the arrest warrant issued for Winner, the NSA realized the documents had been printed out because the copies sent by The Interceptshowed that the documents "appeared to be folded and/or creased, suggesting they had been printed and hand-carried out of a secured space". The FBI was then able to identify the printer steganography tracking dots to determine when the document was printed, narrowing down the search to six suspects, including Winner.^[25]

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange called on the public to support Winner,^[13] offering a $10,000 reward for information about a reporter for The Intercept who had allegedly disclosed helped the U.S. government identify Winner as the leaker.^[26] Assange wrote on Twitter that "Winner is no Clapper or Petraeus with 'elite immunity'. She's a young woman against the wall for talking to the press."^[27]

On June 8, 2017, Winner pleaded not guilty to "willful retention and transmission of national defense information", and was denied bail. Prosecutors alleged she may have been involved in other leaks of classified information, and that she might try to flee the country if released.^[17]^[28]

References[edit]

Jump up^ Park, Madison (June 6, 2017). "What we know about Reality Winner". CNN. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
Jump up^ "Who Is Reality Leigh Winner?". U.S. News & World Report. June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
^ Jump up to:a b c d Singman, Brooke (June 6, 2017). "Who is Reality Winner? Accused leaker wanted to ‘resist’ Trump". Fox News. Retrieved June 6,2017.
Jump up^ Swaine, Jon (June 6, 2017). "NSA contractor Reality Winner accused of leaking file on Russia election hacking". The Guardian. Retrieved June 6,2017.
^ Jump up to:a b Swaine, Jon (June 6, 2017). "Reality Winner: NSA contractor and environmentalist repulsed by Trump". The Guardian. Retrieved June 7,2017.
Jump up^ Charlie Savage, Scott Shane, Alan Blinder (2017-06-06). "Reality Winner, N.S.A. Contractor Accused of Leak, Was Undone by Trail of Clues". Washington DC: New York Times. p. A19. Retrieved 2017-06-07. Ms. Winner’s apparent Twitter feed, which used a pseudonym but had a photo of her and the same account name as her Instagram feed, makes clear her hostility toward Mr. Trump. That suggests a possible motive for leaking: highlighting Russian hacking of election-related targets, amplifying the narrative that Mr. Trump’s victory is tainted.
Jump up^ Krishnadev Calamur (2017-06-06). "Who Is Reality Winner?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
Jump up^ Jeremy Redmon (2017-06-05). "Augusta contractor charged with mishandling top-secret U.S. materials". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Archived from the original on 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2017-06-09. The government announced Reality Leigh Winner’s arrest Monday, about an hour after The Intercept reported that it had obtained a top-secret National Security Agency report about Russia’s interference.
Jump up^ Danny Robbins , Christian Boone, J. Scott Trubey (2017-06-09). "Accused leaker’s social posts not enough to shake top secret clearance". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Archived from the original on 2017-06-09. Winner’s posts deriding President Trump likely wouldn’t trigger interest from NSA personnel unless someone complained, experts said. And even if someone did, deciding whether to take some sort of action would be a difficult call, they said.
Jump up^ J. Scott Trubey , Jennifer Peebles, Jeremy Redmon (2017-06-07). "Augusta at center of NSA leak investigation: City is major hub for intelligence community". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Archived from the original on 2017-06-09. As Winner’s story unfolded this week, reporters from major networks and newspapers across the country descended here. But few people attached to the military installation would talk on the record. The NSA declined to comment. Local government officials were also tight-lipped.
^ Jump up to:a b O'Sullivan, Donie (June 6, 2017). "Accused leaker Reality Winner called Trump an 'orange fascist' on Twitter". CNN. Retrieved June 7,2017.
^ Jump up to:a b Sinclair, Harriett (June 6, 2017). "Reality Winner Slammed Trump as an 'Orange Fascist'". Newsweek. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
^ Jump up to:a b ""Who is Reality Winner? Accused leaker wanted to 'resist' Trump". Fox News. June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
^ Jump up to:a b "Suspected leaker’s Facebook page filled with vitriol against Trump". The Washington Times. June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
Jump up^ Fondacaro, Nicholas (June 7, 2017). "Accused NSA leaker Reality Winner's motives a 'mystery' -- At least to ABC, NBC and CBS". Fox News. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
Jump up^ Sutton, Kelsey (June 7, 2017). "Reality Winner’s Facebook page goes dark after being swarmed with hateful comments". Mic. Retrieved June 8,2017.
^ Jump up to:a b Hurtado, Patricia (June 8, 2017). "Accused Leaker of Top-Secret U.S. Report Loses Bail Request". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
Jump up^ Clark, Johnny; Bynum, Russ (June 8, 2017). "Judge denies bail for alleged NSA leaker Reality Winner". Business Insider. Retrieved June 12, 2017 – via Associated Press.
Jump up^ Ortiz, Erik. "Who Is Reality Winner, NSA Contractor Accused in Top Secret Leak?". NBC News. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
Jump up^ Edwards, John (June 7, 2017). "Air Force honored Reality Winner for taking out enemy combatants". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
Jump up^ Savage, Charlie (June 5, 2017). "Intelligence Contractor Is Charged in First Leak Case Under Trump". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
Jump up^ Park, Madison (June 6, 2017). "What we know about Reality Winner". KVIA. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
Jump up^ Silva, Daniella; Grosenick, Kip (June 7, 2017). "Alleged NSA leaker Reality Winner to plead not guilty". NBC News. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
Jump up^ Cole, Matthew; Esposito, Richard; Biddle, Sam; Grim, Ryan (June 5, 2017). "Top-Secret NSA Report Details Russian Hacking Effort Days Before 2016 Election". The Intercept. First Look Media. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
Jump up^ Gilbert, David (June 6, 2017). "NSA leak suspect was ratted out by an office printer". Vice News. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
Jump up^ "WikiLeaks offers $10,000 to get Intercept reporter fired". The Hill. June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
Jump up^ "Wikileaks' Julian Assange tweets support for NSA 'whistleblower' Reality Leigh Winner". Daily Express. June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
Jump up^ Hartmann, Margaret (June 8, 2017). "Alleged Leaker Reality Winner Pleads Not Guilty, Is Denied Bail". New York Magazine. Retrieved June 9, 2017.

External links[edit]

FBI Affidavit in Support of Application for Arrest Warrant (Case 1:17-mj-00024-BKE / Filed 06-05-2017)

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Pages

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Reality Winner NSA Leaker To Intercept

Reality Winner 6/12/2017

Contents

Background[edit]

Political views[edit]

Career[edit]

Intelligence report leak and arrest[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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Reality Leigh Winner
Born	December 1991 (age 25) Texas, United States
Residence	Augusta, Georgia
Nationality	United States
Citizenship	United States
Education	High school diploma
Alma mater	H. M. King High School
Occupation	Federal contractor
Employer	Pluribus International Corporation
Known for	Allegedly leaking an intelligence report detailing Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections to The Intercept
Home town	Kingsville, Texas^[1]
Criminal charge	18 U.S. Code § 793 - Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information^[2]
Criminal status	Arrested
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	2010–2016^[3]
Rank	Senior airman (E-4)^[3]
Unit	94th Intelligence Squadron^[3]
Awards	Air Force Commendation Medal