The face of Reality Leigh Winner, NSA whistle-blower/leaker.

[pnwmom]

In case anyone's interested.

She's so young -- and she's just changed the course of her life. She now faces 10 years in Federal prison. I hope she'll feel it was worth it, in the end.

Her last Facebook post says: "“You are what you love, not who loves you.”

Interestingly, she predicted DT's win before the election. I wonder if that was based on other things she was seeing.

http://heavy.com/news/2017/06/reality-leigh-winner-leak-classified-information-nsa-top-secret-fbi/

A 25-year-old federal contract worker from Augusta, Georgia has been charged by the Department of Justice for taking Top Secret materials from her workplace and mailing them to a news outlet.

Reality Leigh Winner was arrested by the F.B.I. on June 3 and appeared in federal court in Augusta on June 5. She was charged with gathering, transmitting or losing defense information that could have been damaging to the U.S. It’s alleged that she took a Top Secret document, copied it and mailed it to a news organization, believed to be The Intercept, NBC News reported.

The Intercept had published an intelligence document on May 5 that’s in line with what’s said in a criminal complaint. The report described details about Russian efforts to hack voting systems in the U.S. about one week before the 2016 presidential election. The document said that it “raises the possibility that Russian hacking may have breached at least some elements of the voting system, with disconcertingly uncertain results.”

SNIP

Prior to working for Pluribus, Winner was an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force. She was in the Air Force as a linguist, and speaks Pashto, Farsi and Dari, her mother told The Guardian’s Jon Swaine.

Notably, Winner didn’t hide her stance on politics. Just one day before the 2016 presidential election, she made a post to Facebook saying “on a positive note, This Tuesday when we become the United States of the Russian Federation, Olympic lifting will be the national sport.”

[pnwmom]

4. Most people keep the name their parents give them.

[AngryAmish]

5. Sounds like she had shitty parents.

[HipChick]

12. Geez..her father just died...

[pnwmom]

14. No, it sounds like she had "hippie" parents. n/t

[DBoon]

59. And the hippie parents taught her a few things about integrity

and independent thinking

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. That's a shitty thing to say.

[AngryAmish]

7. Fair play.

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. Sounds like she had the patriotism we so far have not seen from a single republican in the

house or senate.

I am sure they will destroy her for it.

[benfranklin1776]

45. Yes I agree just like Daniel Ellsberg.

Providing the American people the truth they need to hear to wake them up before their democracy is irrevocably lost.

[Tatiana]

3. I know what she did was legally wrong.

But I can't help but feel it is an act of patriotism.

[NightWatcher]

9. +1. It's a mixed up world, but sometimes the Ends do justify the Means.

[barbtries]

21. i'm with you.

they're gonna use her, abuse her, and probably keep her in prison for years while donald trump who leaked sensitive intelligence to a hostile nation, continues to be the president. sigh.

[Squinch]

23. Yes. I hate the precedent, but these are not normal times.

[geek tragedy]

8. The Intercept did virtually nothing to help protect her identity.

They caught her because the Intercept showed them a copy of the physical printout showing the crease/fold.

[Tatiana]

10. I was going to mention this. They should have done a better job of protecting her identity.

But, she did take the risk.

Still, she probably expected them to do a better job of protecting their source.

[Madam45for2923]

11. Yep they did not know how to protect their source.

[pnwmom]

16. Or maybe they didn't care. This is Greenwald's publication, don't forget.

Too bad she didn't send it to the NY Times or the Washington Post.

[FSogol]

17. +1, the Intercept is a joke. n/t

[woolldog]

19. Yeah I was thinking the same thing.

She should've sent this to the NY Times or WAPO. They have experience and could've protected her. She's a patriot and a whistleblower in my book.

[Barack_America]

55. Greenwald of the Russian persuasion?

Unfortunate choice for her.

Still, she didn't exactly hide. I think she expected this and felt it worth it.

[pnwmom]

58. Yeah, that one. n/t

[onit2day]

51. Pure speculation. You don't know what happened

[YCHDT]

20. They'll reap what they sowed on this ... they could've helped her and decided not to

[PoliticAverse]

29. It appears they caught her because only 6 people accessed that data....

and she had a record of email contact with the news organization.

[deurbano]

35. Seems that last bit would be pivotal.

[hrmjustin]

36. Good point.

She leaked to the wrong media outlet.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

13. Wonder Woman? Pffft. This one is the real heroine.

[teach1st]

15. Trumpsters are all over her Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/RealityWinner?lst=1419907790%3A100000495013413%3A1496704652

[barbtries]

22. cool. i'm growing my blocked list.

dang i thought we had a philosophy of innocent until proven guilty??

[YCHDT]

18. There's so many in the intel community that feel there's SOMETHING wrong with D2S !!! She seems ...

... rational and thinks there has to be something done.

Praying for the best for her

[Scurrilous]

24. K&R

[AnotherMother4Peace]

25. If she has a GoFundMe page or something I'm in for a donation. Anyone know?

[Duppers]

41. Same here. I'm in.

She is a heroine!

It's sickening that the true criminals will not have to pay for their crimes but this whistleblower must fight to stay out of prison for exposing a crime that would most likely have stayed hidden for a long time.

Elections are coming and this info is pertinent and important.

[hrmjustin]

26. I hope she gets a good lawyer and a merciful prosecutor.

My best to her.

[yallerdawg]

27. Whistleblower conviction!

She may have violated the law, but that doesn't mean she committed a crime!

[nikibatts]

28. 25-year old Federal Contractor with TS clearance. My40+ daughter with a Ph.D. in criminology

couldn't achieve that...Whom did she know?
Intel has been burned thrice by these privileged children.

[woolldog]

30. She's ex military.

Was probably in military intelligence. Not that remarkable.

[Barack_America]

49. The languages she speaks certainly indicate that.

Pretty impressive.

[tammywammy]

44. I know quite a few people with TS/SCI.

They're not "privileged children". The question is what's in your daughters background that prevents her from getting a clearance.

[vi5]

31. Wait so we like whistleblowers/leaks now?

Just checking.

I mean I do, and I support information on what our government is doing being available to the public. But I felt that way before Trump was President as well.

[deurbano]

37. Either way, Intercept still sucks. So, there is consistency on that point.

[Nevernose]

60. Guess it depends on who you ask and on what day

I, for instance, always saw Edward Snowden as more of a "civilly disobedient" person than an actual criminal, and it would be nice if he could ever come home again.

[vi5]

61. Exactly....

That's my point. I think whistleblowing and bringing government activities done in our name and with our tax dollars to light is a good thing. I was fine when Snowden did it and I'm DEFINITELY fine with this woman doing it. But the hypocrisy on this page is glaring and sad.

[LanternWaste]

63. It could also be predicated on context, detail, difference, agenda, etc

It could also be predicated on context, detail, difference, agenda, etc. rather than the simplistic "what day it is".

I do however, understand the desire to consciously ignore it as such though... as doing so would both trivialize and deny your narrative.

[blueinredohio]

32. It all sounds fishy to me . How long have they been

Looking for leakers? Finally found one and she sends it to Intercept? Not buying it.

[Duppers]

42. She possibly and most likely knew someone there.

Most plausible to me.

[Historic NY]

33. She was only there since Feb.

[still_one]

34. In my book she is a hero. I just wonder if it would have been better for the Intercept

to delay the release of this information until more data was revealed, but regardless, this is a patriot in my book

[orleans]

38. the replies in the comment section of your link (heavy) are horrible

they sound like a bunch of trump right wing freaks

[FailureToCommunicate]

39. Sometimes you have to do the "wrong" thing for the right reasons

?quality=65&strip=all&w=780

[BSdetect]

40. So it was OK for blotus to give secrets to Russian spies but .....

[Ilsa]

46. Yeah, I'd like to see that case brought first before

the same judge (wishful thinking) she'll see.

I feel bad for her, but I appreciate what she did. Still, there is one question: did her leaking this to the press interfere with nailing the damn bastards in any way? I have my doubts, but I wonder if that is an issue.

[Duppers]

43. If there were not leekers in this country....

of info important to *protecting* this country....

[orangecrush]

47. Sacrifice

Duty.

Honor.

Country.

[dalton99a]

48. She deserves a presidential pardon

[onit2day]

52. Not from this goober

[dalton99a]

54. From the next D president

[judesedit]

50. Anyone can flip votes in under 5 minutes on e-machines as shown on television years ago

Check out blackboxvoting.org for truth

[Barack_America]

53. I like to think I would have done the same if I saw that document.

Sorry, but she gets a from me.

Not many good reasons for information like that to be held from the American public.

[Alhena]

57. Look at this Freeper filth commenting, another female to boot ...

Reality Winter:

There is nothing that can fix the hole in my heart that you left behind. I still don't know who I am without you here or how to keep moving forward without the one person who believed unconditionally in everything I want to do in life. Old habits die hard, I still find myself making time to call you in the evenings or jotting down notes or stories to tell you next time we speak. Somehow, though, I feel like you are a little closer, here, among the pyramids you used to endlessly tell us about, and always hoped to see. It's like I have a little piece of you here with me. I miss you, Dad. You would have loved to be here, though I'm sure you would have been bitching about the hot weather every minute.

Freeper response:

Michelle Engel I bet dad is glad he's dead considering his daughter is a traitor to our country.

To think, a blow job by your mom would have prevented you, I mean this.....

Bahaha

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1725100754183075&set=ecnf.100000495013413&type=3&theater

[Blue_Tires]

62. So all the outlets she *could* have gone to, she chooses the motherfucking Intercept?

She's either a lot dumber than she looks, or Greenwald paid her way more than any other outlet was going to... I guess she tried calling RT or Sputnik first, but their phones were busy...

All this for one slide? Or did she hand over a bunch of Russian files for Greenwald to hoard and trickle out over the next 20 years?? This moron is literally going to jail for confirming a story reported last summer? https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-is-investigating-foreign-hacks-of-state-election-systems/2016/08/29/6e758ff4-6e00-11e6-8365-b19e428a975e_story.html

If nothing else, I'm grateful that her actions officially debunk the flimsy excuses why Snowden supposedly wasn't able to grab any files about Russian wrongdoing... Just one more thing I was right about, but I'm not holding my breath for a medal.

As an aside, where the fuck are Snowden, Assange, Timm and the rest of the privacy bros decrying Trump's "War on Whistleblowers?"

[orangecrush]

65. I don't think RT would have been receptive

To a document exposing Russian hacking, or the intelligence communities awareness of same.

That said, trusting anything Greenwald connected was stupid.

[Blue_Tires]

68. Final verdict: She really was that fucking dumb... Makes Ed look like Mensa

http://observer.com/2017/06/reality-winner-intercept-nsa-leak-explained/

[orangecrush]

69. My "verdict"

It angers me
To see the older people in positions of power too cowardly to risk anything to stop this destruction of democracy, while a bright young woman with everything to lose lays it all down.

I am ashamed for them, because apparently they are incapable of shame.

[Blue_Tires]

70. I agree her heart was in the right place (unlike Snowden)

but she went about it all wrong... If she was going to throw her life and career and freedom away she should have done it for an irrefutable smoking gun instead of confirming what was already reported...

And if she *DID* send the Intercept an irrefutable smoking gun, she sent it to the wrong fucking people and should have known better, since Glenn will happily sit on any files which make his Russian partners too uncomfortable...

[orangecrush]

71. I think it's entirely possible

That Greenwald saw ratting her out as the best move for russia.

We are in agreement.

[itcfish]

64. The News outlet

She sent the documents to ratted on her. What happened to protect your sources?

[jalan48]

66. She's a brave young woman. A real American hero.

[jmg257]

67. Seemingly bright person who screwed up their life...for a mediocre secret info

about hacking. Too bad.

Appears the Russia hacking REALLY pissed her off.

[Historic NY]

72. Obviously a novice the printers have coding that identifies them....

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/06/the-mysterious-printer-code-that-could-have-led-the-fbi-to-reality-winner/529350/


Its been an added little counterfeiting counter-measure manufacturers have been adding to some printers.

[Blue_Tires]

73. I know her heart is in the right place, but she just gets dumber by the day:

Link to tweet