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Contractor charged with leaking classified NSA info on Russian hacking

WarMacheen

Member
The Justice Department announced charges Monday against a federal contractor with Top Secret security clearance, after she allegedly leaked classified information to an online media outlet.

Reality Leigh Winner, 25, a contractor with Pluribus International Corporation in Georgia, is accused of "removing classified material from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet," according to a federal complaint.

CNN is told by sources that the document Winner allegedly leaked is the same one used as the basis for the article published Monday by The Intercept, detailing a classified National Security Agency memo. The NSA report, dated May 5, provides details of a 2016 Russian military intelligence cyberattack on a US voting software supplier, though there is no evidence that any votes were affected by the hack.



An internal audit revealed Winner was one of six people who printed the document, but the only one who had email contact with the news outlet, according to the complaint. It further states that the intelligence agency was subsequently contacted by the news outlet on May 30 regarding an upcoming story, saying it was in possession of what appeared to be a classified document.

Contractor charged with leaking NSA info

related to http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1385997

published on Monday....charged on Monday

leak my info if old
 

kirblar

Member
lesson: don't leak to the intercept
She leaked to multiple places and leaked in the stupidest way possible. (And believe me, I'm not a fan of the Intercept.) This isn't on them. If you don't want to get caught, step 1 is not using your work computer.
 

WarMacheen

Member
she was caught because only 6 people had access to that document, only one person emailed a news outlet....guess who
 

FreezeSSC

Member
So now that the source isnt anonymous does that mean the news is real now? Sucks she went down trying to spread the truth but got to do it the smart way.
 

Tovarisc

Member
Damn it she's probably going to have a worse time than the white house administration too, huh?

At this point she is only one who is going to do hard time. Edit: Apparently going to die for this, at worst.

Cynic in me says that Trump & Goons get some fines and home arrest, at worst.

she was caught because only 6 people had access to that document, only one person emailed a news outlet....guess who

Only 6 had viewed it during specific time period. Minor difference, but still.

So now that the source isnt anonymous does that mean the news is real now? Sucks she went down trying to spread the truth but got to do it the smart way.

They confirmed memo is real moment they arrested her.
 

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
That was quick.

They are probably trying to make an example of her and portray this as a W for their side against leakers.
 

tbm24

Member
She could face the death penalty. You know damn well Trump and Sessions will push for it too. Let's hope her jury nullifies or fails to convict under the Act.
Pushing for the death penalty would be beyond ridiculous and I don't see the public at large being for it.
 
I mean, I appreciate the information, but not at the expense of this woman spending who knows how long in prison. It just makes me sad this is how it played out.
 
I hate to do this but DNC should stand up in defense for her even if it looks like they are using her. She really needs to get protected though.
 

WarMacheen

Member
At this point she is only one who is going to do hard time. Edit: Apparently going to die for this, at worst.

Cynic in me says that Trump & Goons get some fines and home arrest, at worst.



Only 6 had viewed it during specific time period. Minor difference, but still.



They confirmed memo is real moment they arrested her.



yeah, during the time frame, should have mentioned that in my post. As someone who deals in stuff like this, it's quite easy to find leakers if they don't cover their tracks
 

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
The issue w/ Manning is that she was treated like shit b/c of her trans identity and it was inexcusable. Not that she got sent to prison.

She was treated like shit before the trans identification appeared.
 

reckless

Member
You'd think if getting caught could get you the death penalty you'd be a little more careful with doing something like this. Jesus Christ.

An internal audit revealed Winner was one of six people who printed the document, but the only one who had email contact with the news outlet
 

psyfi

Banned
Damn. I hope she ends up okay.

Pushing for the death penalty would be beyond ridiculous and I don't see the public at large being for it.
Sounds like a show of force Trump would relish, regardless of public support.
 

The Llama

Member
The leaks are real
The news is fake

TVgB3c3.png


#neverforget
 

sazzy

Member
Did they screw up? Or did everyone screw up?

the intercept showed the document to the NSA and they noticed it had a crease down the middle.

the NSA informed the FBI. the FBI figured that the doc was printed by the leaker because of the crease. from there, they figured out who had printed the doc, and she was one of the six or seven people.

also, she was the only one who had exchanged emails with the intercept.
 
That's unfortunate, but then again she wasn't exactly the smartest leaker either it seems. Still she doesn't deserve to go to prison.
 

reckless

Member
the intercept showed the document to the NSA and they noticed it had a crease down the middle.

the NSA informed the FBI. the FBI figured that the doc was printed by the leaker because of the crease. from there, they figured out who had printed the doc, and she was one of the six or seven people.

also, she was the only one who had exchanged emails with the intercept.

I mean they don't even have to do that. The paper shows date/time and serial number of when its printed through microdots.

https://twitter.com/quinnnorton/status/871883733032415236
 

Rafy

Member
Wow, she was an NSA employee and just sent that over from her email address without even using any sort of encryption? She should have used ProtonMail at the very least...

She must have wanted to get caught or didn't care.
 

tbm24

Member
His base will be and that's all that matters to him.
I mean granted, I just don't know what to think if the President of the US, even if it's Trump, comes out publically and essentially calls for this person's death.
 
She must have wanted to get caught or didn't care.

I guess in some roundabout way by being caught it adds validity? I saw a couple news outlets saying they weren't going to post it until the arrest happened, but I wonder if this arrest will give it a bigger spotlight.

And with a bigger spotlight, I don't know if it'll inform more people, or just put fear into more potential leakers to leak stuff people need to hear.
 

BunnyBear

Member
According to the NYT the maximum sentence is 10 years, but similar cases during the Obama years typically ended in 1 to 3 year jail terms.

During the Obama administration, the Justice Department prosecuted more leak cases than any other previous administration combined.
 

Omadahl

Banned
Did she just attach this in an email or something? Regardless of how insecure she was, she's a damn hero anyway.
 
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