Patterico's Pontifications

6/6/2017

NSA Contractor Arrested, Accused Of Leaking Classified Information

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:57 am



[guest post by Dana]

Reality truly bites:

A 25-year-old government contractor has been charged with mishandling classified information after authorities say she gave a top-secret National Security Agency document to a news ­organization.

Reality Leigh Winner was accused of gathering, transmitting or losing defense information — the first criminal charge filed in a leak investigation during the Trump administration.

Winner was arrested Saturday and the case was revealed Monday, shortly after the website the Intercept posted a redacted version of a U.S. intelligence document describing Russian government efforts to use hacking techniques against employees of a company that provides technical support to states’ voting agencies.

Documents filed in federal court against Winner in Georgia did not identify the news outlet or the document, although both the Intercept and the court papers say it was dated May 5. A person familiar with the case said the charges stem from the document given to the ­Intercept.

Here is the link to the Intercept.

And there’s this:

This NSA summary judgment is sharply at odds with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denial last week that Russia had interfered in foreign elections: “We never engaged in that on a state level, and have no intention of doing so.” Putin, who had previously issued blanket denials that any such Russian meddling occurred, for the first time floated the possibility that freelance Russian hackers with “patriotic leanings” may have been responsible. The NSA report, on the contrary, displays no doubt that the cyber assault was carried out by the GRU.

The Washington Examiner notes this from the affidavit:

“The U.S. Government Agency examined the document shared by the News Outlet and determined the pages of the intelligence reporting appeared to be folded and/or creased, suggesting they had been printed and hand-carried out of a secured space,” the affidavit read.

Winner was identified because she was one of six people who printed the document off of their computer. Of those six, she was the only one who had any email contact with a news outlet.

“Winner further acknowledged that she was aware of the contents of the intelligence reporting and that she knew the contents of the reporting could be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign nation,” the affidavit stated.

“During that conversation, Winner admitted intentionally identifying and printing the classified intelligence reporting at issue despite not having a ‘need to know,’ and with knowledge that the intelligence reporting was classified.”

About Reality Winner: Winner held a Top Secret security clearance at her current position to which she was hired in February of this year. She was in the in the military for six years, speaks Farsi, Dari and Pashto. On social media, “she posted disparagingly on Facebook about Donald Trump’s pledge to build a wall along the Mexican border, about his draconian criminal justice plans, and about his assault on the Environmental Protection Agency. In February, she referred to the president as “piece of shit”.”

Winner’s court-appointed lawyer claims that his client has “…just been caught in the middle of something bigger than her”.

Under the Espionage Act, Winner faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

115 Responses to “NSA Contractor Arrested, Accused Of Leaking Classified Information”

  1. Good morning.

    Dana (023079)

  2. Another left wing lunatic. I know that’s redundant, but it bears repeating.

    Psychological help is needed en masse for these adult infants.

    NJRob (7f4bec)

  3. Her given birth name (born 1992?) was probably a snark acknowledgement of then pioneering Real World series. After the Trump-Pence, Pence _ regency, we might be stuck with Zephyr Teachout – Reality Winner as the pendulum swing.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  4. silly hooch pissed away her freedom pretty cheaply huh

    as if the professional leaker trash at the NSA didn’t have leaking this same document on their agenda

    why does the idiot slag think the corrupt sleazy NSA created it in the first place?

    moron

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  5. Well, by updated progressive mores, better to trick the blonde white lady into taking the fall.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  6. that’s a good point

    i’m just exasperated with her cause she’s so stupid

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  7. Stories about young people acting stupidly often make me sad. This is a case-in-point. The mother’s comment about how passionate her daughter is only compounds it.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  8. Barack Obama: “If Putin had a daughter, she’d look like Reality Winner.”

    Paul (180ab9)

  9. An author who created a character with all of the qualities of Reality Winner–particularly the name–would be mocked as a hopeless hack.

    M Scott Eiland (1edade)

  10. Trump is a black hole, engulfing reputations and reasoning capacity of those who love him and those who hate him with equal rapidity and relentlessness.

    Maybe the only defence is not to care, or maybe care more about your state or your family, or your local government for a while, and leave the Trump monster to implode on itself and its family. Because those who support him turn fool or knave. Those who work for him, if they do not go stupd in self-defense, go hypocrite, and leak their dismay to any reporter who will hear them. And those who oppose — mostly, they seem to go mad, and forget their principles in their madness.

    This poor young woman. She’s not a hero. Her career is shot before it really begun. And the story that felt like a world changing earthquake to her, will disapear in the general din. Except for her. For her, it will live for the next 50 years.

    Appalled (d07ae6)

  11. That some Iron Law of Institutions at Warp Speed:
    http://www.yahoo.com/news/breitbart-editor-fired-anti-muslim-094013203.html

    Fox held out for 20+ years, at least. One could argue that original Andrew was a larger tent, not BIG tent guy.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  12. Reality Winner is sucking up the fifteen minutes of fame and media scrutiny deserved by Imran Awan.

    http://dailycaller.com/2017/05/31/wasserman-schultz-admits-hill-it-security-violations-blames-house-administrators-for-not-stopping-her-video/

    pouncer (915d55)

  13. It’s not all about Trump, though he clearly has a unique way of triggering his opponents that is a delight to observe. When I first noticed, it was with Megyn Kelly and I thought her response was an outlier. Wrong! I’m grateful to the whoever coined the term “beclowing“. It came just in time for Ms. Kelly and her ilk.

    But it’s not just Trump. The Left has been working on infecting our institutions and corrupting our children for 50 years and it has paid off. The diminution of the reasoning capacity of the Left has been incremental; it’s now almost complete. Young people acting foolishly in support of the leftist paradigm didn’t arrive with Trump, nor will they depart with Trump.

    But there’s good news in this, too. That the devolution is nigh complete means the end is in sight. Now even my leftist friends cringe at the insanity of it all, or just don’t want to talk about it.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  14. Winnering!

    Colonel Haiku (b6b19d)

  15. 10… this republic is under attack and dealing with an insidious threat from the demented left and yet it goes unnoticed by many. Trump is inexperienced and too easily distracted, but he is very, very far from being the problem here. So dry your eyes and man up.

    Colonel Haiku (b6b19d)

  16. 7… the wormy apple 🍎 did not fall far from the tree.

    Colonel Haiku (b6b19d)

  17. oung people acting foolishly in support of the leftist paradigm didn’t arrive with Trump, nor will they depart with Trump.

    Youthful indiscretions are not limited to ‘leftists’ …….plenty of junior wing nuts getting in on the act too.

    Spartacvs (6cb768)

  18. if Vapid Leigh Sillybint had just sat tight for a week I guarantee you this data would have been leaked toot and also reasonably sweet

    stupid stupid stupid i can’t even handle how stupid she is

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  19. How do you say lock her up in Pashto?

    Pinandpuller (0b53da)

  20. Millenials don’t wear underwear so what do they stuff their classified documents into?

    Pinandpuller (0b53da)

  21. Most of the fools in RW’s corner want to get rid of The Electoral College.

    Pinandpuller (0b53da)

  22. Psychological help is needed en masse for these adult infants.

    Starting in the Oval Office.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  23. Vows to stand with terror regime if US goes to war against Iran, says “all lives matter” is offensive, declares being white a form of terrorism, says Leo Decaprio’s climate film convinced her not to have children…….

    She’s like a collage of the lefty thinking void.

    harkin (299d24)

  24. “Winner further acknowledged….that she knew the contents of the reporting could be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign nation,” the affidavit stated.

    I don’t believe that.

    She must have been intimidated and frightened into reluctantly agreeing with that.

    She most definitely did not believe that release of this information would harm the United States, or even could be used that way, even if it hurt President Donald Trump.

    jis is evidently an important legal point that she understood or thought (at the time) that the material could be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign nation.

    This is the most important thing any lawyer for her should challenge.

    Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42)

  25. Reality check: she was right; she was wrong; she was caught; she is gone.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  26. BS Sammy. She didn’t care that it would hurt the USA because we are bad people since we elected Trump. She “stands with Iran” against us

    NJRob (9bca63)

  27. 27… you are waaaaaayyyyyy too generous, Sammeh.

    Colonel Haiku (b6b19d)

  28. Your White Privilege has just been revoked. Your p**** pass is denied. Your Blonde Ambition has just been quashed.

    Pinandpuller (0b53da)

  29. Young people speakin’ their minds
    Sneakin’ top secret docs up their behinds
    It’s time we stop, hey what’s that sound
    Everybody look, teh left’s beclowned

    Colonel Haiku (b6b19d)

  30. @23 DCSCA

    Your hour is up.

    Pinandpuller (0b53da)

  31. 7… Thor… she is not worth has-ing a sad about!

    Colonel Haiku (b6b19d)

  32. @33: “Well, the President will be very pleased to hear that.” – Dr. Sidney Schaefer [James Coburn] ‘The President’s Analyst’ 1967

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  33. They caught a minnow. Now can we catch the bigger fish?

    crazy (d3b449)

  34. Hello everyone this is your action news reporter with all the news that is news across the nation at the scene of the NSA. Excuse me sir did you see what happened?

    Yeah, I did. I was at the watercooler and here she comes, running thorough the cubicles leaking like Leahy and I yelled “don’t look Marcy!” but it was too late-she’d already been subpoenaed.

    Here she comes, boogity boogity

    There she goes, boogity boogity

    And she’s wearing orange clothes

    Oh yes they call her the leak

    Boogity Boogity

    Hope she got legal relief

    Boogity boogity

    She’s screwed as she can be

    Shackled hands and her feet

    Bunking with bank robbers and thieves

    Oh yes they call her the leak

    Boogity boogity

    She took her beef to the street

    Boogity boogity

    If there’s mercy to be found

    She’ll be making the rounds

    Inviting publicity

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  35. Good post. Wish I could say the same about the comments from the peanut gallery.

    nk (9651fb)

  36. @37. Cute.

    Cuter than she is.

    “… I’m a zit!” – Bluto Blutarsky [John Belushi] ‘Animal House’ 1978

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  37. You can hardly blame Winner for this.

    The document is an elaborate hoax. It is contradicted by public statements from Barack Obama himself. It is part of the deep state’s war against Trump. It was designed to be leaked. (Because there’s no value in keeping a fake hoax document all to yourself.) The document was designed to be irresistible to a leaker.

    If the Deep State held a press conference and said, “look at our elaborate hoax memo” people would say “this is pee-pee gate redux, it’s a total fake.” But if they get a dupe to leak it for them, that creates excitement around it.

    She is a dupe of the Deep State and deserves as much pity as scorn.

    Also, no one who supported Bernie Sanders should be anywhere near classified information. They should be removed from their jobs.

    Daryl Herbert (7be116)

  38. This young woman apparently came to believe that everyone with her views and self-righteousness is as immune from criminal prosecution as Hillary Clinton has (so far) turned out to be. Alas for her, she has no Loretta Lynch, nor a James Comey, to put fat fingers on the scale of justice on her behalf. Her fantasy surely didn’t survive her first meeting with counsel.

    Unless the FBI did something incredibly stupid like failing to Mirandize her — and probably even if they did — this young woman is in a world of hurt. She doesn’t even have a reasonable hope for jury nullification, and probably not even a hung jury, in Georgia, and the Eleventh Circuit (of whose bar I’m still a member, having been a charter member upon its split from the “Old Fifth”) doesn’t much resemble the Ninth or the Fourth, so she can’t hope for help there either.

    She probably doesn’t have anyone important to “give up,” no bigger fishes that could get her a better plea deal.

    So she’s going to do serious time, mitigated by her relative youth and previously clear record (which one can infer from her security clearance, misguided though it turned out to be), but aggravated by the position of high trust that she deliberately violated and the gravity of her conduct. Her lack of contrition so far will need to be corrected if she’s to get any breaks during sentencing. But I’ll bet there’s a plea deal announced within the next 12 weeks — she’ll have to take what she can get, in all likelihood, if she comes sufficiently to her senses to heed the legal advice she’s surely receiving.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  39. Mr. Herbert (#40), re your assertions about the document, do you have a better source to cite than Barack Obama’s blanket reassurances as filtered through your own guesswork? I’m willing to be educated, but what you assert doesn’t seem to me to be self-obvious.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  40. @40– The only red flag in the press was the nugget noting they traced it to her in an hour or so. That seems too good even for ‘government work.’ Otherwise, she’s tagged and bagged.

    Another strike against outsourcing to contractors and privatization of government services. The U.S. classifies– and keeps classified for decades– far too much inane stuff as it is, but that’s a separate issue. From the contents made public, this information only reaffirms existing suspicions but should be made known to the public– if only to heighten awareness of the vulnerabilities in the election infrastructure. Makes old school paper-and-pen ballots look pretty good. It undercuts Trump’s bluster and Putin’s boasts about faux Russian involvement as well.

    They’ll make a show trial example of her, lots of noise– but first time offender, quality of info- probably a 5 year sentence– reduced over time and she’ll walk on good behavior after 18 months, do talk shows, a book tour and get a screenplay out of it.

    “Obviously crime pays. Or they’re be no crime.” – G. Gordon Liddy, convicted Watergate felon

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  41. @40 Daryl Herbert

    Reminiscent of the pre D Day misinformation ploys.

    The Allies cut a guy’s head and hands off. Dummied up some documents and planted them on his body. Then they dumped it where it would wash up and be found. I believe it pulled a lot of resources away from the landing zones.

    Look for more CSA’S at high tide. They’re filling the streets of Miami.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  42. @43 DSCSA

    Are there still laws about not profiting from the crime you were convicted of?

    I say convicted so you wouldn’t have to say anything about Saudi hotel bills.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  43. @45- There’s always a ‘Hollywood’ work around– especially if you produce/publish offshore, rework content and such. Never underestimate the stink of profit: capitalism is like electricity- it follows the path of least resistance.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  44. The best part of staying in a Trump Hotel is kids and fourth wives eat for free.

    Pinandpuller (0b53da)

  45. @47 ROFLMAO *****

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  46. They caught a minnow. Now can we catch the bigger fish?

    Non bigger than POTUS his own self

    Spartacvs (6c2e79)

  47. She used her government computer to establish an email link with the website she sent the material to.

    She was one of six people who had access, but her computer was the only one with an email link to that website.

    Hillary Clinton was a criminal genius, a veritable Moriarty, compared to Ms. Reality, apparently.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  48. Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  49. > She used her government computer to establish an email link with the website she sent the material to.

    This is really the most mind-boggling part of the whole thing.

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  50. That could be redundant. And with DC’s electricity metaphor-it can be in series or parallel.

    Pinandpuller (0b53da)

  51. DCSCA

    Let’s dip RW in liquid helium, strap her to an electric chair and see if she’s a superconductor.

    Pinandpuller (0b53da)

  52. I just saw that Glenn Greenwald is one of the publishers of Intercept. He was also involved in the Snowden farce. I would like to see a deal from the prosecution for this lady if she could testify to a conspiracy by Greenwald to steal the document.

    nk (9651fb)

  53. Beldar, it’s all phony.

    Their only “evidence” for believing that Russia is behind the attacks is because the attacks had the characteristics of Russian hacking.

    How do the US know what are the characteristics of Russian hacking? Because the US has been studying Russian hacking and compiling a list of the characteristics of Russian hacking.

    What does the US use this list for? In addition to using the list to evaluate hacking attacks to see if they bear signs of Russian hacking, they also use the list to create software tools so that the US’s own hacks (CIA NSA DIA etc.) can be made to appear to third parties as though they originated from Russia.

    So really, if a hack has the markings of a Russian hack, it could also be a US government operation.

    And we know that the US government tried to hack local vote-counting agencies.
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/georgia-reports-attempt-to-hack-states-election-database-via-ip-address-linked-to-homeland-security-1481229960

    Further, we know the software tools were misused by contractors working for the US government. So any hack that has the markings of a Russian hack could be by Russia, the US government, or rogue former US government contractors.

    And we know that US government contractors spread the tools around, sold them, and permitted Wikileaks to get them.

    So really, any hack that has the markings of a Russian hack was either carried out by Russia, the US, former US contractors, or just about anybody else in the world who obtained the tools.

    And even knowing this, Democrats will say with a straight face that 17 government intelligence agencies have all confirmed that this definitely Russian hacking. They are not credible and I’m not interested in buying the war that they are selling.

    Obama mass-wiretapped Republicans and tried to hack the election. These attacks on Russia and Trump are a desperate attempt to cover it up long enough that when the truth finally gets out, they can say, “it’s old news”

    Luckily, Anthony Weiner is a pedophile and Democrats in Congress trusted a bunch of foreign Arabs to do their IT. And DJT is in the White House. So there is a good chance that non-Democrats can begin unwinding things.

    Daryl Herbert (7be116)

  54. Winner Winner Prison Dinner!!!

    Ipso Fatso (7ea747)

  55. Reality Winner reminds me a lot of Ellison Hatfield “Cotton Top” Mounts.

    “They made me do it!”

    Pinandpuller (0b53da)

  56. Sparky is wishin’ and hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’
    Plannin’ and schemin’ his clownin’s a start
    Amounts to a desperate wet fart

    Colonel Haiku (b6b19d)

  57. Tweeter in Chief now actively aiding and abetting Moscow cyber disruption ops against Qatar :

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/russian-hackers-planted-fake-news-qatar-crisis/index.html

    US investigators believe Russian hackers breached Qatar’s state news agency and planted a fake news report that contributed to a crisis among the US’ closest Gulf allies, according to US officials briefed on the investigation.

    The FBI recently sent a team of investigators to Doha to help the Qatari government investigate the alleged hacking incident, Qatari and US government officials say.
    Intelligence gathered by the US security agencies indicates that Russian hackers were behind the intrusion first reported by the Qatari government two weeks ago, US officials say. Qatar hosts one of the largest US military bases in the region.
    The alleged involvement of Russian hackers intensifies concerns by US intelligence and law enforcement agencies that Russia continues to try some of the same cyber-hacking measures on US allies that intelligence agencies believe it used to meddle in the 2016 elections.

    Spartacvs (6c2e79)

  58. Ewwwww… CNN! Teh truthiness overwhelms…

    Colonel Haiku (b6b19d)

  59. US officials scramble to limit Trump’s diplomatic damage over Qatar tweets

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/06/donald-trump-qatar-tweets-us-diplomatic-damage

    It’s unlikely (to say the least) that Donald Trump realised we are running the entire air war out of Qatar prior to his tweet,” said Andrew Exum, a deputy assistant secretary of defence for Middle East policy in the Obama administration. In a cycle that has become a daily norm in Washington, government agencies on Tuesday sought to mitigate the impact of the president’s declarations, restating existing policy and playing down the significance of the tweets.

    The defence department praised Qatar for hosting US forces and its “enduring commitment to regional security”. A Pentagon spokesman, Capt Jeff Davis, said he was not qualified to answer a question about whether Qatar supported terrorism.

    Spartacvs (6c2e79)

  60. Tweeter in Chief now actively aiding and abetting Moscow cyber disruption ops against Qatar :

    What are you basing this allegation upon? There’s nothing in the text you copied that indicates Trump had anything to do with this.

    Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71)

  61. The new spokeswoman at the state department, Heather Nauert, was bombarded with similar questions. She echoed the Pentagon’s expressions of gratitude and conceded that Doha had made strides in cutting the flow of funds to terror groups.

    “We recognise that Qatar continues to make efforts to stop the financing of terror groups, including prosecuting suspected financiers, freezing assets, introducing stringent controls on its banking system,” Nauert said. “They have made progress in this arena but we recognise that more needs to be done.”

    Her comments echoed signals from the US ambassador in Doha, Dana Shell Smith, who on Monday had retweeted earlier embassy statements about Doha’s “great partnership and real progress” to counter terrorist financing. When Nauert, a former host of a conservative morning television show, Fox & Friends, was pressed on the conflict between the state department’s signalling and the president’s tweets, she protested: “Guys – let’s move off this social media thing because there are a lot of other important regions around the world that we need to talk about.”

    Fox & Friends, yessiree only the best and brightest. It would be funny if it were just an SNL sketch, but this stuff has consequences.

    Spartacvs (6c2e79)

  62. @63

    Hi Chuck, DJT has a Twitter account. Where you aware of this?

    Spartacvs (6c2e79)

  63. Thank you for the amplification, Mr. Herbert (#56). That’s an interesting line of reasoning and inference, but that’s not exactly what I meant by evidence, which still seems lacking. A great many of your “we knows” and your resulting conclusions still seem to me to be rather sweeping and speculative.

    I have no doubt that the Russians, and other governments, have tried their dead level best to influence American public opinion and resulting American politics since at least July 4, 1776. Sometimes they’ve had remarkable success — see, e.g., British intelligence feeding Wilson the Zimmerman telegram, which effectively brought the U.S. into WW1 on the Allied side. We, likewise, have many thumbs in many pies around the world. This is all part of the Great Game, and the Dems with their current (and oh-so-belated) outrage about Russian efforts to do so again in 2016 is the rankest of hypocrisies.

    But that’s not the same as simply dismissing, categorically, the entire question of foreign attempts to interfere in domestic American politics, which is what Trump, and many of his supporters, seem to be doing with respect to Russia.

    The obvious path that Trump ought have followed was to welcome and support all efforts to investigate what the Russians, and others, may have done by way of dirty work, or more likely, attempted but unsuccessful dirty work, while calmly observing that there is still not a shred of evidence demonstrating any collusion with any such foreign actors, and expressing confidence that there will still be none at the conclusion of that foreign intelligence operation.

    The worst thing he could do, however, is what he has been doing. I think his supporters do him no favors by pretending otherwise or by rev’g up to the same levels of hysterical vitriol that the Left consistently displays.

    Partisans at both extremes are badly overplaying their respective hands on this, it seems to me, so respectfully, I’ll await the results of the ongoing investigations before joining you in your inferential leaps. Thanks for the civil exchange.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  64. Breaking News– CNN/NBC News reporting AG Sessions has offered to resign.

    “And the hits just keep on coming.” – Lt. Dan Kaffee [Tom Cruise] ‘A Few Good Men’ 1992

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  65. Partisans at both extremes are badly overplaying their respective hands on this, it seems to me, so respectfully, I’ll await the results of the ongoing investigations before joining you in your inferential leaps.

    And what about efforts to obstruct ongoing investigation?

    Case in point:

    Trump reportedly asked top US intelligence officials to publicly deny collusion between his campaign and Russia

    http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-asked-top-intelligence-officials-to-deny-russia-ties-fbi-comey-flynn-2017-5

    Spartacvs (6c2e79)

  66. @67

    Oh Shaun, Shaun….

    “Does the the president retain full confidence in the Attorney General?”

    Should be fun watching him squirm.

    Spartacvs (6c2e79)

  67. This Lisa Durden lady on Tucker Carlson’s show is exhibiting where the Left’s identity politics has taken them. Wow.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  68. Spartacuss, you are hereby awarded three kohns for dumbing down an otherwise splendid Tuesday evening.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  69. Hmmm… “A former U.S. intelligence contractor tells Circa he walked out with more than 600 million highly classified documents on 47 hard drives from the National Security Agency’s archives. It was a breach potentially larger than Edward Snowden’s, and now he is suing fired FBI Director James Comey and other current and ex-government officials, alleging the bureau has covered up evidence he claims he provided them showing widespread illegal spying on Americans. . . . Montgomery divulged to the FBI a ‘pattern and practice of conducting illegal, unconstitutional surveillance against millions of Americans, including prominent Americans such as the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, other justices, 156 judges, prominent businessmen, and others such as Donald J. Trump, as well as Plaintiffs themselves,’ Montgomery and Klayman alleged in their suit.”

    http://circa.com/politics/accountability/james-comey-sued-by-intelligence-contractor-dennis-montgomery-over-spying-on-americans

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  70. Hmmm….Larry Klayman

    Spartacvs (6c2e79)

  71. @54 – At Sing-Sing?

    “You Light Up My Life” – Debby Boone, 1977

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  72. @40– The only red flag in the press was the nugget noting they traced it to her in an hour or so. That seems too good even for ‘government work.’ Otherwise, she’s tagged and bagged.

    DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/6/2017 @ 2:34 pm

    It’s actually very simple. Government color printers spy on you and rat you out if you’re stupid enough to do what Reality Winner did, thereby reinforcing the stereotype that blondes are dumb.

    The document would have been unobtrusively marked (with insignificant appearing dots) noting the office location of printer it was printed out on, the s/n of the printer, and the time it was printed.

    Even though this was a contractor’s office, the agency they worked for would keep an automatic electronic log of who used the printer at that time.

    Game. Set. Match. This ain’t rocket surgery.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  73. She used her government computer to establish an email link with the website she sent the material to.

    Beldar (fa637a) — 6/6/2017 @ 3:07 pm

    Ahh! But she had a personal account on that government computer. So she used her personal account and not her official email account.

    I don’t speak or think ditz, but I bet this Sandernista thought that meant she had some sort of 4th Amendment right to privacy and the government couldn’t access their own computer and look at her personal account without a warrant.

    Or something.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  74. @75 DCSCA

    I grew up thinking Sing Sing was an asian slur.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  75. @76- Gee, Steverino, you get CNN too.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  76. @76 Steve57

    It’s not much different than the way hospitals treat narcotics these days. And when they start questioning employees they look for the jumpy ones.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  77. TRUMP GIVES ME HOPE

    TO CARRY ON

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  78. I bet this Sandernista thought

    That verb gives her too much credit.

    kishnevi (3734a9)

  79. Paywall, Narciso

    kishnevi (3734a9)

  80. How long Sessions has– depends on how Comey does.

    “Good luck!” – Trump to Comey on his upcoming testimony, 6/6/17

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  81. @76- Gee, Steverino, you get CNN too.

    DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/6/2017 @ 6:51 pm

    No, actually I don’t. I cancelled my cable well over five years ago and if I want to watch something I’ll watch a movie on DVD on my computer.

    And even when I when I had cable I’s still only watch CNN when forced to in airport departure lounges.

    But I certainly don’t need CNN to tell me about auditing systems on classified information networks. Neither do a few million other people who held TS/SCI clearances. I didn’t know CNN reported this bout do you imagine they found the one and only person who could tell them about this as their source? I’ll give you a hint. Implementing, maintaining, and monitoring these auditing systems are a big job and you need more than one person to do it.

    Apparently Reality Winner needed CNN to clue her in, though.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  82. kishnevi (3734a9) — 6/6/2017 @ 7:00 pm, you’re right. She emoted that she had some sort of 4th Amendment privacy rights on her government computer when using her personal account.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  83. Fun fact: heroin breaks down in the body into morphine and codeine.

    Pinandpuller (adb5e3)

  84. @86. Then you’re in the dark even more than we knew, Steverino.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  85. Thus was nit like the thermal exhaust portvdata, is she delydrd enoughnto think she’s jyn urso.

    narciso (d1f714)

  86. One I realize where I’ve seen that frowny face face, before maggy gylenhaal,

    narciso (d1f714)

  87. It’s always interesting to look at original source documents — with respect to USA v. Reality Winner, that’s via the PACER system for the Southern District of Georgia, Augusta Division, in Case No. 1:17-mj-00024-BKE.

    Here’s the Docket Sheet as of tonight, which shows all of the filings so far in the case. Most interesting is the criminal complaint filed yesterday, which includes the application for the arrest and search warrant — with the FBI agent’s supporting affidavit — from Saturday, June 3.

    Is anyone surprised that she drives a Nissan Cube? I’m not.

    But I’m a little bit surprised to see that the presiding magistrate judge today signed an order terminating her CJA-appointed (free to her) lawyer who’d represented her at the initial hearing yesterday (clerk’s notes):

    Upon review of Defendant’s financial affidavit submitted yesterday in connection with her initial appearance, the Court determined Defendant has sufficient funds to retain counsel of her own choosing and does not qualify for court appointed counsel under the Criminal Justice Act.

    She was further ordered to reimburse the court for her brief-tenured public defender’s fees & expenses. Ouchies. Well, I’m sure there are “GoFundMyFelonyDefense” webpages already up somewhere on her behalf.

    Next up will be her “detention hearing,” to be held on Thursday at 4pm. She’ll want her new lawyer for that, whoever that turns out to be.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  88. Yeah, she’s up to $3510 of her $10k goal on her GoFundMe page. (Link provided ’cause I know y’all will all want to contribute, right?)

    But $10k? That certainly won’t pay for more than a quick plea bargain at private-counsel rates.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  89. my “of the left” friend d today, even he thinks she’s remarkably ree ree

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  90. @ Steve57 & others: My previous description (#50) of how they caught her was slightly off. Read the FBI agent’s affidavit, linked above, for the details instead.

    Basically, as the info from the Washington Examiner that Dana already posted reveals: The website sent the scan they’d gotten from her to the agency she was working at, which gave it to the FBI. Creases suggested it had been printed, folded, and hand-carried out of the facility. Only six employees had printed that document, and of those, she was the only one whose government computer showed evidence of email contact with the website. When the FBI agent went to see her, she confessed, according to his affidavit (although the only details included are fairly conclusory statements designed to tap on each essential element of the single criminal offense being charged).

    The return on the search warrant for her person, car, and house shows that the FBI seized a laptop and some other computer devices (including an “AT&T Palm”?!?), her passport, a non-disclosure agreement (probably her copy of all the stuff she signed promising not to do exactly what she did), plus some mail, spiral-bound notebooks, and handwritten notes.

    The investigation and arrest covered a period of days, not hours.

    To correct some other misinformation that others have left above: In the federal system now, there’s no “probation.” There is “credit for good conduct” by which one can knock just under one month from one’s sentence for every six months of good conduct.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  91. Bah. Meant to write “parole,” not “probation.” nk, please administer 30 lashes.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  92. No, Beldar, I won’t. But I do thank you for the court links. The GoFundMe link makes me think that the Caliphate might not be all bad.

    nk (9651fb)

  93. From the leaked info, the voting company the Russians tried to hack isn’t used in any of the swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin.

    It is used in California …. so did Hillary really win the popular vote ?

    … or did the Russians pad the vote count to drive her crazy ?

    Neo (d1c681)

  94. Heh, its a shirt drive for her.

    narciso (d1f714)

  95. Beldar,

    The comments at Winner’s Go Fund Me page are making her into a hero.

    From her parents tonight in an interview with Anderson Cooper:

    In the wake of Winner’s arrest, CNN’s Anderson Cooper interviewed the Air Force veteran’s parents, mother Billie Winner-Davis and stepfather Gary Davis. After they had told him FBI agents took their daughter by surprise and were armed, Cooper asked Winner-Davis if Reality Winner admitted to them that she had leaked a classified doc, as she reportedly told prosecutors.

    “She hasn’t admitted it to us at all,” Winner-Davis stated. “What she told me was that she was terrified. She was terrified of the situation and she did tell me also that she was afraid she was going to disappear.”

    She continued, “That they were going to make her disappear. She felt like she needed to give them what they were asking for at the time. And so she was terrified.”

    Dana (023079)

  96. There is a hybrid parole/probation supervised release in the federal system, and in states with determinate sentencing, but it does not reduce the period of incarceration, it is tacked on to it. If a released prisoner gets into trouble during supervised release, he can be sentenced to serve the remainder of it behind bars. That’s what happened to the Benghazi video-maker.

    nk (9651fb)

  97. Thought gofundme claimed they didn’t do defense funds or criminal/civil cases. At least that was their claim when they dumped all the Christian businesses being sued by the usual leftist suspects.

    NJRob (9bca63)

  98. @100 Dana

    They were armed? Oh my! It wasn’t exactly an invitation to a debutante ball she smuggled out.

    Pinandpuller (ad237f)

  99. If we could try her, find her guilty and decapitate her on Facebook Live … we’d make progress in fixing the leak problem and restoring accountability in DC.

    Add to that the Generals and FBI Directors doing same.

    Blah (44eaa0)

  100. It’s probably hard to come out to your parents as you transition into a felon. They make you live like one for a whole year in some cases.

    Pinandpuller (ad237f)

  101. @105. Ya’ think?

    “We rob banks!” – Bonnie Parker [Faye Dunaway] ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ 1967

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  102. Fire Sessions and hire Andrew McCarthy.

    mg (31009b)

  103. It was Sweet Cakes by Melissa that gofundme shut down.

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/25/sweet-cakes-christian-owned-bakery-gofundme-drive-/

    The website GoFundMe said in a statement that the page was yanked because the campaign violated the policy against raising money “in defense of formal charges of heinous crimes, including violent, hateful, or sexual acts.”

    So violating federal law on illegally leaking classified documents is a less heinous charge to gofundme than supporting Christian beliefs.

    Good to know.

    NJRob (7f4bec)

  104. From the successor of Dan Rostenkowski, Rod Blagojevich, and Rahm Emanuel, we are told that “Russian hackers” hacked into the Illinois voters database: https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2017/06/07/mike-quigley-russians-hacked-the-illinois-state-board-of-elections-voter-database-and-other-chicago-news

    My assessment is that it was not Russians. That it was Democrats. Leftie Democrats. People like Reality Winner. With Democrat patronage jobs that gave them access to passwords. And they masked their activities through proxy servers that show Russian IP addresses. Like those scam calls you get from Nigeria that show a number with your area code on caller ID.

    nk (9651fb)

  105. Ambassador Smith was like Barbara Bodine who blocked John o’neil from returning to yemen hence he ended up at the wtc

    narciso (c99e1e)

  106. “That they were going to make her disappear. She felt like she needed to give them what they were asking for at the time”

    Which would mean concede that the contents of the reporting could be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign nation even if she didn’t beleive that at all.

    It also means the Miranda warnings are of no use.

    Given her leftist background she could be afraid that in an intelligence case they could just make her disappear and not bring her before a judge at all.

    Sammy Finkelman (375edc)

  107. Sammy,

    or she’s lying. Which is more likely?

    NJRob (7f4bec)

  108. At least she didn’t claim it was a drug deal gone bad. Lowlifes come up with, or pick up from other jailhouse lawyers, several “creative” (not creative, cliche) “defenses”, and “the cops scared me into confessing” is one of them.

    nk (9651fb)


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