In 2017, Reality Winner shared with the public a top-secret intelligence report from the NSA about Russia’s attempt to infiltrate the 2016 U.S. Presidential election process. The report indicated that Russian hackers accessed voter registration polls with an email phishing operation, potentially undermining the integrity of the election.
At the time, Winner was a military contractor for Pluribus International with top-secret security clearance. She shared the report only after seeing there was no mention of it in any of the post-election coverage, which she felt was tainted by relentless misdirection from the Trump Administration. To Winner, she had no choice but to release the NSA report so the truth could be brought to light.
Winner, who had served six years in the United States Air Force prior to becoming an intelligence contractor, was just 25 years old when she printed the classified intelligence report and smuggled it out of the NSA facility. Next, she mailed the classified document to The Intercept, believing it to be in trustworthy hands. Winner, feeling she had done right by her country, was prepared to move on with her life and resume training for an upcoming powerlifting competition. She could not possibly anticipate what would come next.
When The Intercept received the classified document, it did not abide by what it describes as one of its core principles: taking proper precautions to protect its source. It shared the document with the NSA, which with the help...
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