DOJ Charges Federal Contractor For Leaking A Classified National Security Agency Document To A News Outlet

Reality Winner– a 25-year-old federal contractor– has been charged for leaking a classified National Security Agency document to The Intercept.

NBC News: Senior federal official says that Reality Leigh Winner, age 25, has been arrested & charged with leaking document to The Intercept

— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) June 5, 2017

The charges against Reality Leigh Winner came about an hour after the publication of a story based on an NSA document detailing Russian attempts to hack American voting systems in 2016.

 

President Trump has been pushing Justice to go after leakers inside the federal government, which he has identified as “the big story” when it comes to Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election.

Winner worked for Pluribus International Corporation and has apparently held a “top secret classified security clearance” since February.

The announcement came shortly after The Intercept published a report based on a classified intelligence document showing Russian government hackers attempted to hack more than 100 local election officials before the November election.

 

According to the report, Russian military intelligence sent the emails to local elections officials. They also attempted a cyberattack on at least one American voting software supplier.

The Intercept’s story reads in part:

The top-secret National Security Agency document, which was provided anonymously to The Intercept and independently authenticated, analyzes intelligence very recently acquired by the agency about a months-long Russian intelligence cyber effort against elements of the U.S. election and voting infrastructure. The report, dated May 5, 2017, is the most detailed U.S. government account of Russian interference in the election that has yet come to light.

 

While the document provides a rare window into the NSA’s understanding of the mechanics of Russian hacking, it does not show the underlying “raw” intelligence on which the analysis is based. A U.S. intelligence officer who declined to be identified cautioned against drawing too big a conclusion from the document because a single analysis is not necessarily definitive.

 

The report indicates that Russian hacking may have penetrated further into U.S. voting systems than was previously understood. It states unequivocally in its summary statement that it was Russian military intelligence, specifically the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, that conducted the cyber attacks described in the document:

The Examiner says Winner’s arrest could “signal the federal government is going to aggressively investigate and prosecute individuals who send classified intelligence to news organizations.”

About time.

“Winner is a contractor with Pluribus International Corporation assigned to a U.S. government agency facility in Georgia,” a government criminal complaint read, according to the Daily Mail. “She has been employed at the facility since on or about February 13, and has held a Top Secret clearance during that time. On or about May 9, Winner printed and improperly removed classified intelligence reporting, which contained classified national defense information from an intelligence community agency, and unlawfully retained it.”

Sounds like this is just the beginning.