"I am not a traitor": Reality Winner explains why she leaked a classified document

[AZProgressive]

A story about someone named Reality Winner has to start with the name. Her father, playing on the family name, explained he wanted "a real winner." And so, Reality. Maybe that still doesn't make sense, but it is the least baffling fact in this story. Reality Winner became an infamous name in 2017 when she was accused of espionage. She was hit with the longest sentence ever imposed on a civilian for leaking classified information to the media. Now released, she spoke with us. Did Reality Winner do "exceptionally grave damage" as the prosecutors said? Or did she reveal a truth that defended America? It's complicated —like the young woman with the unforgettable name.

Reality Winner: I am not a traitor. I am not a spy. I am somebody who only acted out of love for what this country stands for.

We met 30-year-old Reality Winner, at home in Texas, after four years behind bars. 'Espionage' seemed surprising for a woman who joined the Air Force at 19 and won the Air Force Commendation Medal, in 2016, for "600 enemies killed in action." She did that as a linguist in a combat unit fighting secret missions.

Scott Pelley: How many languages do you speak?

Reality Winner: Farsi, Dari, and Pashto.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/reality-winner-60-minutes-video-2021-12-05/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=143093128

[Deuxcents]

1. I watched this interview on 60 minutes tonight

Finding out the facts of this event is another person, who in good faith, got tangled up with tfg and his corrupt people behind him and has suffered in many ways. I hope she can get on with her life.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Here's the interview - Reality Winner: The 60 Minutes Interview

Reality Winner was arrested in 2017 for leaking classified information about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Scott Pelley speaks with Winner in her first television interview since being released earlier this year.

[questionseverything]

2. She is a hero

[MLAA]

4. Agree.

Wish her the best.

[moondust]

3. Thanks for posting.

Last edited Mon Dec 6, 2021, 08:34 AM - Edit history (1)

From the interview:

~
"...did not betray our sources and methods. Did not cause damage. Did not put lives on the line. It only filled in a question mark that was tearing our country in half in May 2017."
~

I've always thought her big mistake was releasing it to the Intercept/Glenn Greenwald. But...

The NSA could see on its network that she printed it.

I don't know if there was anything she could have done to conceal her identity.

Julian Assange, on the other hand, was not an intelligence worker and may have never heard of anything called "sources and methods." I believe he released tons of raw intelligence that probably compromised sources and methods and may have gotten some people killed.

ETA:

She was hit with the longest sentence ever imposed on a civilian for leaking classified information to the media.

It would be reassuring to know that this was in no way a political prosecution by an administration or its allies that desperately wanted to hide any Russian involvement in the 2016 election. Perhaps there is a neutral IG's office out there that needs a little work?

[cilla4progress]

6. She IS

a hero. I hope there will be a statue of her some day.

[EndlessWire]

7. Oh, BS

I don't care how badly she needs to rehab her rep. She betrayed her oath, she's untrustworthy, and she let all her fellow uniformed service people down. I am surprised she got out in four years.

She is not a hero. Probably just gonna sell a book or two. Her best shot.

[elias7]

9. Well that's an interesting take on events

You think it’s about rehabbing her rep? Cash in on her experience? That’s pretty cynical.

How exactly did she let all her fellow uniformed service people down? Did she put anyone at risk with her actions?

Are you a “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” kind of guy? Or is there any instance where truth and morality Trump a promise to Trump?

[EndlessWire]

20. She definitely is rehabbing her rep

At some point in her interview, she said as much.

"Did she put anyone at risk with her actions?" Is THAT your criteria for letting someone decide whether to leak classified data? I was a soldier, I had a Top Secret Crypto classification, a ten-year travel restriction, and I feel let down by her actions. YOU DON'T KNOW what ramifications there were. She wasn't in a position to know, and she just arbitrarily la-di-da decided for herself.

When you sign up for such a position, you better put your Big Girl britches on, and suck it up. I don't admire someone who betrays the trust placed in her. It's rather a strict standard, and not something you get to modify to suit your needs. Yes, the country is in peril. No, she doesn't get to decide the matter. It's a matter of professionalism. If you can't or won't meet the criteria and the bright line of your oath, then QUIT.

Her own mother stated that she implied that her job while she was in service was doing something that her mother easily figured out, and that it was wearing her out. What business did her mother have hearing about her classified job while she worked in the military? None! If you can no longer do your job, quit! Don't move to another job working with classified information, a job which you don't believe in, and then decide to leak stuff that you find interesting. Do. your. job. Or quit!

I HATE TRUMP. I'm sick of Trump. I despise all that he stands for, him and his sickening, fascist GOP party. And, here on DU, when all we can rally for is GOTV, there are those who want to oppose even that. I will vote. But, people are kinda crazy here. Reality Winner had four years to mature and figure out what it all means. Instead, she's talking to 60 minutes protesting her innocence, even still. She doesn't get it.

She has to do what she has to do. I get it. Her poor mother has probably been through hell. I get that. But, don't tell me that it's okay to leak classified information out of a system that was built to protect us. Don't change the actions into something whitewashed to make her shine.

You have to stand your ground. You can't change up the standard according to whoever is in the WH. Yeah, it was Trump, cheating and lying and just being Trump. But, what illegal order did she overcome? How is what she did justified? At the very least, she stole classified information and gave it to someone who wasn't supposed to have it. It was a terrible misjudgment, and she has NO EXCUSE for it. She was young and dumb. That's about it.

[madville]

12. The major tenet of access to classified material

The major tenet of access to classified material is protecting classified material. The subject matter itself or personal beliefs are meaningless, you protect material based on its level of classification, period.

If she wanted to sacrifice her career and freedom for leaking it, so be it, take ownership of it and accept the consequences though. Don’t play the victim, she knew what she was doing was illegal and that every action on a classified network is easily traced back to the user.

Whether the information should be known to the public or not is irrelevant and not for her to make a determination on. She is no more a legitimate “whistleblower” than Snowden is, both committed criminal acts.

[Deuxcents]

13. Do not agree with you

She is a highly decorated Air Force Servicemember who took an oath to protect our country and that’s what she did. Her oath was not to tfg and his antics were unconstitutional and she did the right thing. IMO, and has paid dearly for it. What say you about the others in the story who got four months and/or no jail time for far worse crimes? I hope someday she does write a book and further expose went went on.

[Celerity]

18. No.

[Raine]

8. A courageous true hero, so glad she finally got out! 👍👏 nt

[Kingofalldems]

10. Kick and rec.

[MineralMan]

14. I listened to that 60 Minutes interview.

Like Ms. Winner, I worked at Fort George Meade, in the NSA building, in my early 20s, while serving in the USAF. Also like her, I understood the consequences of divulging any of the Top Secret documents I dealt with while there. They made the penalties very, very clear, again and again, to those who worked there. We all signed various papers to the effect, demonstrating our understanding of those rules and possible consequences.

I was never tempted to share any of that classified information outside of that building. Had I been tempted, I would clearly have understood that doing so could end up with me going to prison. I never had to make a decision about such a thing, because I saw nothing that cried out to be leaked.

I was heavily involved in anti-war activities in the Washington, DC area during the same period. But, nothing I was doing in that building was relevant to that. So, I didn't have to make such a decision. Circumstances might have been different, but they were not.

Still, had I been tempted to reveal such classified information, I would have carefully considered the easily understood penalties for doing so. That would have been part of the calculation. Ms. Winner also knew and understood those penalties. She made her decision. There were consequences for her decision.

That's how such things work. Simple.

[Deep State Witch]

19. Exactly This

When one has a security clearance, you have to constantly think of the ramifications of your actions. I was terrified every time that reinvestigation and polygraph test came up, because I am a left-leaning person. I came in during the Reagan Administration. (Need I say more?)

In 2002, I had gone to a tech conference in San Jose, and stayed a couple of extra days to go to San Francisco. I rode the train up to the BART station, then took BART the rest of the way to Fisherman's Wharf, where I was supposed to meet the tour bus that would take me to the Muir Woods. I came up in the middle of a massive protest against the Iraq War! I was horrified. I mean, here I am, an NSA employee stuck in the middle of this protest! I was really hoping that there were no TV cameras around. Not only that, the bus couldn't get through to pick me up, and I wound up cancelling my excursion. At least they refunded my money.

[SYFROYH]

15. When leaking classified materials for a greater good, one needs to accept prison time

Frankly, I'm surprised the penalty is only a few years.

[BannonsLiver]

16. Her father is an idiot for naming her that.

Sounds very WT.

[Deep State Witch]

17. She May Have Done It For A Good Reason

But she still broke the law and violated the terms of her security clearance and employment. Do I think that she deserved that hard of a sentence? No. However, she was used as an example to others who would consider doing the same thing.

[ck4829]

21. K&R

[BeckyDem]

22. Some thought Daniel Ellsberg was wrong too, he wasn't.

50th Anniversary of the Pentagon Papers Release – 6/13/21

Fifty years ago today, on 6/13/71, the first set of excerpts from the Pentagon Papers was published in the New York Times: Vietnam Archive: Pentagon Study Traces 3 Decades of Growing U. S. Involvement. Leaked by Daniel Ellsberg, the 42-volume top-secret study revealed the history of Vietnam decision-making and the lies that were told by four U.S. presidents to cultivate public support for the war.
https://www.ellsberg.net/