Reality Winner, the Air Force veteran and former NSA contractor who admitted to leaking classified materials to media outlet The Intercept has been sentenced to 63 months in prison. The prosecution reminded the judge that the leaking of top-secret materials can result in “exceptionally grave damage to national security.” Despite defense attorney Joe Whitley’s claims that his client’s crimes were just a “poorly considered act of political passion and protest,” a federal judge sided with the prosecution when sentencing Winner to more than five years in prison, following her earlier plea of guilty to espionage.
Winner was vocally upset about President Trump’s victory, expressing her outrage on various social media outlets. Her Facebook page was taken down shortly after her arrest, but her Twitter account (under an alias) is still online, preserving her commentary and political leanings. This reportedly lead to her leaking an NSA memorandum that discussed potential foreign interference in the election, with the intention of discrediting the Trump presidency. Unfortunately for her, the information she leaked didn’t accomplish this and now she is going to face the repercussions of the crime she knowingly committed. Instead of being a martyr for a just cause, she will go down in history as the genius who leaked top-secret information and accomplished exactly zero. Following are some excerpts from Winner’s Twitter account:
#notmypresident #Recount2016 https://t.co/kWA6pQTVKK
— Sara Winners (@Reezlie) November 29, 2016
There are many Americans protesting US govt aggression towards Iran. If our Tangerine in Chief declares war, we stand with you!
— Sara Winners (@Reezlie) February 7, 2017
Winner was facing ten years in prison for a crime she was almost certainly going to be convicted of, given her admission of guilt to FBI agents before she was arrested. She plead guilty in June and the judge has now accepted the terms of the plea deal, meaning 63 months of incarceration and 3 years of supervised release. During her sentencing hearing, Winner apologized and admitted that what she did was wrong, despite her lunatic supporters claiming she was somehow a “hero” of the “resistance.” According to the prosecution, Winner’s sentence will be “the longest sentence served by a federal defendant for an unauthorized disclosure to the media.”
Winner asked the Bureau of Prisons to incarcerate her at Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas. Part of the reason Winner requested to do her time at FMC Carswell is that she is reportedly struggling with both bulimia and depression and hopes to receive better treatment at Carswell. Winner’s family also resides in Texas, which will make visitations much more easy for them. What are your thoughts about all of this?
