Reality Winner
Reality Winner | |
|---|---|
 Winner at the 2025 Texas Book Festival | |
| Born | Reality Leigh Winner December 4, 1991 Alice, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation | National Security Agency (NSA) translator |
| Employer | Pluribus International Corporation |
| Known for | Revealed classified NSA document about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections |
| Criminal information | |
Criminal status | Released |
| Conviction | Pleaded guilty to felony transmission of national defense information |
Criminal charge | 18 U.S. Code § 793(e) – Gathering, transmitting or losing national defense information |
Penalty | Five years and three months in prison |
| Imprisoned at | Federal Medical Center, Carswell |
| Military career | |
Branch | United States Air Force |
Service years | 2010–2016 |
Rank | Senior airman (E-4) |
| Unit | 94th Intelligence Squadron |
| Awards | Air Force Commendation Medal |
Reality Leigh Winner (born December 4, 1991) is a United States Air Force veteran, and a former National Security Agency (NSA) translator. In 2018, she was given the longest prison sentence ever imposed for an unauthorized release of government classified information to the media, after she leaked an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. She was sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison.
On June 3, 2017, while employed by the military contractor Pluribus International Corporation (de), Winner was arrested on suspicion of leaking an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections from the NSA to the news website The Intercept. The report indicated that Russian hackers accessed voter registration records in the United States with an email phishing operation.
The Intercept's mishandling of the material exposed her as the source and led to her arrest. Twice denied bail, Winner was held at the Lincoln County Jail in Lincolnton, Georgia. On August 23, 2018, Winner was convicted of espionage for "removing classified material from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet" and sentenced to five years and three months in prison as part of a plea deal.
Reality Winner was incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas. On June 2, 2021, Winner was released to the San Antonio, Texas-based Residential Reentry Management center. In November 2021, she was released from federal custody.