Jailed NSA leaker Reality Winner on Trump "so unfair" tweet: "I can't thank him enough"

[steve2470]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/reality-winner-former-nsa-contractor-deeply-regrets-leaking-classified-documents/


Reality Winner, the former NSA contractor who leaked a secret report on Russia's election hacking efforts to the media, responded Thursday to President Trump's tweet that called her sentence "so unfair." "I can't thank him enough," Winner said on "CBS This Morning" by phone from Lincoln County Jail in Georgia.

She was sentenced to more than five years in prison last week in the longest punishment ever imposed for this kind of violation, which she said she "deeply" regretted. She is the first person to be sentenced under the Espionage Act since the Trump administration took office.

"Well it was mid-2017, and I was the first one however, as of Friday, you know, even our commander in chief, President Trump, has kind of come out and said, 'Wait a minute, this is really unfair, there's this double standard here.' And for that I can't thank him enough because for 16 months those words 'so unfair' were actually not allowed by myself or my team or my family to say out in the public, so I just can't thank him enough for finally saying what everybody has been thinking for 16 months," Winner said.

On Friday, Mr. Trump tweeted, "Ex-NSA contractor to spend 63 months in jail over 'classified' information. Gee, this is 'small potatoes' compared to what Hillary Clinton did! So unfair Jeff, Double Standard." Winner said she's appreciative of his words of support but is hesitant to consider what it might mean.