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Reality Winner, Former Air Force Linguist, Gets 63 Months for Leaking Report on Russian Hacking Reality Winner, Former N.S.A. Translator, Gets More Than 5 Years in Leak of Russian Hacking Report
(35 minutes later)
Reality Winner, the former Air Force linguist and intelligence contractor who pleaded guilty in June to leaking a top-secret government report on Russian hacking, was sentenced on Thursday to five years and three months in federal prison.Reality Winner, the former Air Force linguist and intelligence contractor who pleaded guilty in June to leaking a top-secret government report on Russian hacking, was sentenced on Thursday to five years and three months in federal prison.
Ms. Winner, 26, received the longest sentence ever imposed for an unauthorized release of government information to the media. She is the first person to be sentenced under the Espionage Act since President Trump took office.Ms. Winner, 26, received the longest sentence ever imposed for an unauthorized release of government information to the media. She is the first person to be sentenced under the Espionage Act since President Trump took office.
She was arrested in June 2017 and was held for more than a year while prosecutors built their case. She pleaded guilty in June 2018 to one felony count of unauthorized transmission of national defense information, for giving a classified report about Russian interference in the 2016 election to a news outlet.She was arrested in June 2017 and was held for more than a year while prosecutors built their case. She pleaded guilty in June 2018 to one felony count of unauthorized transmission of national defense information, for giving a classified report about Russian interference in the 2016 election to a news outlet.
Prosecutors said on Thursday that Ms. Winter’s actions merited a stiff sentence.Prosecutors said on Thursday that Ms. Winter’s actions merited a stiff sentence.
“Winner’s purposeful violation put our nation’s security at risk,” United States Attorney Bobby L. Christine told reporters after the sentencing in federal court in Augusta, Ga. He said the report she leaked revealed sources and methods of intelligence gathering, and its disclosure “caused exceptionally grave damage to U.S. national security.”“Winner’s purposeful violation put our nation’s security at risk,” United States Attorney Bobby L. Christine told reporters after the sentencing in federal court in Augusta, Ga. He said the report she leaked revealed sources and methods of intelligence gathering, and its disclosure “caused exceptionally grave damage to U.S. national security.”
He added that she “knowingly and intentionally betrayed the trust of her colleagues and her country,” and was “the quintessential example of an insider threat.”He added that she “knowingly and intentionally betrayed the trust of her colleagues and her country,” and was “the quintessential example of an insider threat.”
Ms. Winner was fresh out of the Air Force and just a few months into a job as a translator for the National Security Agency in May 2017 when prosecutors say she printed a report from her work computer that detailed hacking attacks by a Russian intelligence service against local election officials and voter registration databases. She later told investigators that she smuggled the printed report out of the offices of the contractor, Pluribus International in Augusta, Ga., in her pantyhose, and then mailed the report to the online news outlet The Intercept.Ms. Winner was fresh out of the Air Force and just a few months into a job as a translator for the National Security Agency in May 2017 when prosecutors say she printed a report from her work computer that detailed hacking attacks by a Russian intelligence service against local election officials and voter registration databases. She later told investigators that she smuggled the printed report out of the offices of the contractor, Pluribus International in Augusta, Ga., in her pantyhose, and then mailed the report to the online news outlet The Intercept.
Following a trail of clues, the F.B.I. soon arrested Ms. Winner, but not before the Intercept published the classified report.Following a trail of clues, the F.B.I. soon arrested Ms. Winner, but not before the Intercept published the classified report.
Addressing Chief Judge J. Randall Hall in court on Thursday, Ms. Winner said she took “full responsibility” for the “undeniable mistake I made.” She said she “would like to apologize profusely” for her actions.Addressing Chief Judge J. Randall Hall in court on Thursday, Ms. Winner said she took “full responsibility” for the “undeniable mistake I made.” She said she “would like to apologize profusely” for her actions.
Ms. Winner’s lawyers asked the judge to take into account in sentencing that she had been honorably discharged, had been a top student and had no prior criminal record. “She is someone who has done something she should not have done — and knows she should not have done,” John Bell, one of Ms. Winner’s lawyers, told Judge Hall. “But she’s not an evil person.”Ms. Winner’s lawyers asked the judge to take into account in sentencing that she had been honorably discharged, had been a top student and had no prior criminal record. “She is someone who has done something she should not have done — and knows she should not have done,” John Bell, one of Ms. Winner’s lawyers, told Judge Hall. “But she’s not an evil person.”
Joe Whitley, a former federal prosecutor who was another of Ms. Winner’s lawyers, highlighted her service with the Air Force, including assisting with more than 800 intelligence missions that he said had “removed” 100 enemies.Joe Whitley, a former federal prosecutor who was another of Ms. Winner’s lawyers, highlighted her service with the Air Force, including assisting with more than 800 intelligence missions that he said had “removed” 100 enemies.
Federal guidelines allowed for a sentence of up to 10 years, but prosecutors agreed in June to a sentence of 63 months, to avoid a trial that would require discussing classified reports and intelligence gathering techniques in open court. Prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum filed this week that such a trial “would compound the exceptionally grave harm to national security already caused by the defendant,” and that the plea agreement “reflects a fair resolution of the defendant’s criminal culpability. ”Federal guidelines allowed for a sentence of up to 10 years, but prosecutors agreed in June to a sentence of 63 months, to avoid a trial that would require discussing classified reports and intelligence gathering techniques in open court. Prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum filed this week that such a trial “would compound the exceptionally grave harm to national security already caused by the defendant,” and that the plea agreement “reflects a fair resolution of the defendant’s criminal culpability. ”
The judge imposed the sentence that prosecutors recommended.The judge imposed the sentence that prosecutors recommended.
The Justice Department prosecuted Ms. Winner under the Espionage Act, a World War I-era law that made it a crime to disclose secrets that could be used to harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary.The Justice Department prosecuted Ms. Winner under the Espionage Act, a World War I-era law that made it a crime to disclose secrets that could be used to harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary.
Prosecutions under the law for leaking sensitive information to the news media, rather than to a foreign government, were once rare, and usually led to little if any prison time. But in recent years the Justice Department has been cracking down on such leaks.Prosecutions under the law for leaking sensitive information to the news media, rather than to a foreign government, were once rare, and usually led to little if any prison time. But in recent years the Justice Department has been cracking down on such leaks.
Perhaps the best -known leaker, Chelsea Manning, was tried and convicted in a military court-martial, not a civilian court, for sending a vast archive of military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but served only about seven years; President Obama commuted the remainder of her sentence. Perhaps the best-known leaker, Chelsea Manning, was tried and convicted in a military court-martial, not a civilian court, for sending a vast archive of military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but served only about seven years; President Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her sentence.
In 2013, a former F.B.I. agent was sentenced to 43 months in prison for leaking classified information to The Associated Press about a foiled bomb plot in Yemen. That same year, a former C.I.A. agent, John Kiriakou was given a 30-month sentence for revealing the identity of an undercover agent. In 2015, another former C.I.A. agent, Jeffrey Sterling, was sentenced to 42-months for leaking classified information to The New York Times about a secret operation to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program. In 2013, a former F.B.I. agent was sentenced to 43 months in prison for leaking classified information to The Associated Press about a foiled bomb plot in Yemen. That same year, a former C.I.A. agent, John Kiriakou, was given a 30-month sentence for revealing the identity of an undercover agent. In 2015, another former C.I.A. agent, Jeffrey Sterling, was sentenced to 42-months for leaking classified information to The New York Times about a secret operation to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program.
[Read: A security breach and spilled secrets have shaken the N.S.A. to its core.]
Ms. Winner, who grew up in Texas, seemed in some ways not to fit the popular image of someone who might violate the Espionage Act. A part-time yoga instructor who was fond of kale, owned rescued pets and drove a Nissan Cube with a bumper sticker saying “Be truthful, gentle and fearless,” she had passed several security screenings and had no history of disciplinary problems in the military.
But prosecutors said in court filings that she was a savvy and well-trained analyst whose political beliefs drove her to violate security restrictions. They said that in the months before she leaked the report, Ms. Winner had downloaded software that would help her hide her web searches and communications; had expressed support for Edward J. Snowden, the N.S.A. contractor who leaked a trove of classified documents to WikiLeaks in 2013 and then took refuge in Russia; and had “repeatedly expressed contempt for the United States.”
“It’s literally the worst thing to happen on the planet,” she said of the United States in a Facebook chat with her sister in February 2016, according to prosecutors. “We invented capitalism, the downfall of the environment.”
When her sister asked if she really hated America, Ms. Winner said yes, prosecutors said, though she added that her feeling was “mostly just about Americans’ obsession with air-conditioning.”
According to prosecutors, she printed out the classified report on May 9, the day President Trump fired James Comey, the director of the F.B.I. At a detention hearing last year, a prosecutor, Jennifer G. Solari, said that Ms. Winner had been “mad about some things she had seen in the media, and she wanted to set the facts right.”
Some transparency groups have championed Ms. Winner as a whistleblower, saying that the leak of the report alerted states to the dangers posed to elections by outside hackers.
Under the plea agreement, Ms. Winner is to be transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ medical center in Carswell, Tex., where she can receive treatment for bulimia and be relatively close to her family.