- Actuality Winner was jailed for leaking a US report on the Russian meddling within the 2016 election.
- She was launched in June 2021 on good conduct, after 4 years of incarceration.
- Winner instructed CBS she is “not a traitor” and had leaked the paperwork “out of affection” for her nation.
A former Nationwide Safety Company contractor jailed for leaking a doc about Russian hacking within the 2016 election has spoken out about her experiences, insisting that she is “not a traitor.”
Actuality Winner, now 30, was arrested in 2017 and admitted to taking categorised intelligence paperwork that very same 12 months.
She was accused of mailing top-secret NSA info to the media outlet The Intercept. The categorised doc detailed Russian authorities efforts to hack a Florida-based US voting software program provider.
In 2018, Winner was sentenced to greater than 5 years in jail. She was launched in June 2021 for good conduct.
Talking to CBS, Winner stated she thought one thing was amiss after watching then President Donald Trump try to sow doubt about whether or not Russia had influenced the 2016 election.
“I simply saved considering, ‘My God, any individual must step ahead and put this proper. Anyone,'” Winner instructed the outlet.
“I knew it was secret. However I additionally knew that I had pledged service to the American individuals. And at that time limit, it felt like they have been being led astray,” she added.
Winner instructed CBS that she “meant no hurt and “didn’t betray” the US’ “sources and strategies” of acquiring intelligence by leaking the doc.
“It solely stuffed in a query mark that was tearing our nation in half in Might 2017,” Winner stated.
She additionally instructed CBS about what it is like being referred to as a “terrorist.”
“I’ve had 4 years of simply attempting to say I am not a terrorist. I am unable to even start to speak about my precise espionage indictment. Or have a way of accomplishment in having survived jail,” Winner stated.
She added that she felt “stained” by the accusations that labeled her as a part of the identical teams she had enlisted within the Air Drive to struggle towards.
