A federal government contractor was charged with removing and mailing classified materials about Russian interference in the 2016 election to a news outlet, the Justice Department announced June 5.

Reality Leigh Winner, a 25-year-old intelligence contractor, printed and retained classified intelligence reporting from the National Security Agency, containing classified national defense information, on or about May 9, according to the Justice Department.

A few days later, Winner allegedly mailed that intelligence report to The Intercept, which subsequently published the NSA report on its site on June 5.

The report identified two cyber attacks by Russian intelligence actors: one in August 2016, the other in November 2016. In the August cyber attack, the intelligence actors executed a spear-phishing campaign against a company that sells voter registration-related software. As part of that campaign, the actors sent emails to members of the company to entice employees to click on a “link within a spoofed Google Alert email, which would redirect the user to the malicious domain.” The report said the campaign “appeared to be designed to obtain the end users’ email credentials.”

During the November cyber attack, the actors also contacted the email addresses of 122 local election officials about a week before the 2016 election. The report said it is possible that those officials’ email addresses were obtained from the compromised accounts of members of the company from the August attack.

The Intercept isn’t new to publishing leaked classified information, having released 166 documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden in May 2016.

In its statement, the Justice Department announced that the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Winner at her home, on June 3. Winner appeared in federal court on June 5 where she was charged with violating 18 U.S.C. Section 793(e), a provision of the Espionage Act which deals with gathering, transmitting, or losing defense information.

If convicted, Winner could face up to ten years in prison.

“Releasing classified material without authorization threatens our nation’s security and undermines public faith in government,” said Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein as part of the Justice Department’s statement. “People who are trusted with classified information and pledge to protect it must be held accountable when they violate that obligation.

FBI Special Agent Justin C. Garrick said in an affidavit that the U.S. government agency conducted an audit of six individuals who had printed the intelligence reporting. It revealed that Winner had been in email contact with the news outlet. The audit did not reveal that the other five individuals had been in contact with the news outlet.

According to The Intercept, the NSA document was provided to the outlet anonymously.

Garrick also said Winner confessed that she had intentionally identified and printed the classified intelligence reporting, removed it from her office space, retained it, and mailed it to the news outlet.

In a series of tweets on June 5, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange showed his support for Winner. He said sources like Winner, who does not have “elite immunity,” should be “strongly encouraged” to communicate knowledge.

Alleged NSA whistleblower Reality Leigh Winner must be supported. She is a young women accused of courage in trying to help us know. pic.twitter.com/B4aIdt7qz6

— Julian Assange (@JulianAssange) June 6, 2017

Reality Leight Winner is no Clapper or Petraeus with “elite immunity”. She’s a young woman against the wall for talking to the press.

— Julian Assange (@JulianAssange) June 6, 2017

It doesn’t matter why she did it or the quality the report. Acts of non-elite sources communicating knowledge should be strongly encouraged.

— Julian Assange (@JulianAssange) June 6, 2017

NY Daily News writer Shaun King also voiced his support for Winner, calling her a “courageous young woman” and “a brilliant Air Force veteran disturbed by what she saw.”

I stand w/ this courageous young woman, Reality Winner, who leaked NSA docs.

She’s a brilliant Air Force veteran disturbed by what she saw. pic.twitter.com/1U7MqsOPxS

— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) June 6, 2017

Still, others on social media remained staunchly opposed to Winner’s actions.

Reality Winner is going to prison for her “snowflake” espionage acts.. who names their child Reality?#potus #maga #@CNNPolitics

— Cindi Turchik (@CindiTurchik) June 6, 2017

The more I learn about #RealityWinner, the more I think we need to be prosecuting whoever gave her a security clearance. Is there no line?

— Adam Goldstein (@AdGo) June 6, 2017

For now, however, Winner awaits her trial.

Marcus Dieterle

Marcus is an editorial intern at Law Street. He is a rising senior at Towson University where he is double majoring in mass communication (with a concentration in journalism and new media) and political science. When he isn’t in the newsroom, you can probably find him reading on the train, practicing his Portuguese, or eating too much pasta. Contact Marcus at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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The FBI secretly arrested a National Security Agency contractor suspected of stealing and leaking highly classified material that is used for hacking foreign governments’ networks. The suspect, Harold Thomas Martin, has been in custody since August and worked for the same firm as famous whistleblower Edward Snowden, Booz Allen Hamilton. This firm is responsible for some of the most secretive and sensitive operations of the NSA.

Maryland Man Charged With Removal of Classified Materials and Theft of Government Property https://t.co/fHMngJZQ6x

— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) October 5, 2016

Martin is suspected of stealing a “source code” that the NSA uses to break into the computer systems of hostile foreign countries like China, North Korea, and Russia. It is unclear if he has shared the code with anyone yet. If leaked, the documents could “cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the U.S.,” according to a statement from the U.S. Justice Department.

Here’s how the criminal complaint describes the NSA contractor’s response. pic.twitter.com/TCExbnoDPl

— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) October 5, 2016

The 52-year-old Maryland man now faces one year in prison if found guilty of removing the materials, and ten more for the theft. The FBI searched his home and car, where it found several documents and digital information marked as “top secret.” They also found unspecified “government material” up to a value of $1,000.

The formal charges are theft of government property and unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials by a government employee or contractor. This case is different from Snowden’s because of the material stolen and the purpose of it. Snowden was a whistleblower who acquired classified documents and leaked them for the public benefit. Martin stole the actual code software that is used in NSA operations and that can be sold and used for cyber warfare.

Edward Snowden, currently exiled in Russia, tweeted about the news.

This is huge. Did the FBI secretly arrest the person behind the reports NSA sat on huge flaws in US products? https://t.co/otgOwB5efm

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 5, 2016

According to the Independent, the material in this case could be connected to the recent theft of secret material by the hacker group Shadow Brokers, which also included a source code that was traced to the NSA. The hackers also left a cryptic message in broken English, saying, “We want make sure Wealthy Elite recognizes the danger cyber weapons, this message, our auction, poses to their wealth and control.”

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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On December 24, the National Security Agency (NSA) released 12 years of internal reports that detailed improper surveillance procedures used on Americans. It was either the world’s weirdest attempt at an early Christmas present, or the NSA was just trying to release the news while no one was paying attention. Either way, the NSA essentially detailed a twelve year history of spying on the American people.

The NSA put out the following statement when they released the reports:

These materials show, over a sustained period of time, the depth and rigor of NSA’s commitment to compliance. By emphasizing accountability across all levels of the enterprise, and transparently reporting errors and violations to outside oversight authorities, NSA protects privacy and civil liberties while safeguarding the nation and our allies

The reports weren’t just released out of the benevolence of the NSA’s heart, of course. The agency released the documents as a result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The reports were originally prepared for the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board. They stretched from the end of 2001 to the middle of 2013. After Edward Snowden released information about the NSA’s transgressions in June of 2013, the American people have been concerned about the extent to which the NSA has kept a close watch on electronic means of communication.

While heavily redacted, the documents detail instances in which NSA employees either conducted unauthorized surveillance, made mistakes, shared data with others, and/or committed other types of transgressions. While none of what was released by the NSA was particularly surprising, it definitely included many incidences that could be seen as embarrassing to the agency.

One such incident was a situation in which an NSA employee snooped into her spouse’s personal communications. According to the report this employee:

reported that, during the past two or three years, she had searched her spouse’s personal telephone directory without his knowledge to obtain names and telephone numbers for targeting.

Apparently that’s a common enough problem that such violations have earned the name “LOVEINT,” presumably some abbreviation of a phrase like “Love Intelligence,” although it is difficult to be completely sure.

It’s understandable that an agency the size of the NSA would occasionally have mistakes occur, but the reports really just seem to confirm the suspicions of American people that there’s been unauthorized spying for the last decade or so. While it’s difficult to see how many times laws were actually broken, there’s definitely evidence of privacy violations here. While it was certainly no surprise, people have every right to be mad about the confirmation of misbehavior by the NSA.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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