In a case of “real life is stranger than fiction,” a 25-year old white girl whom liberal media convinced that President Donald Trump and the Russian government are going to destroy the world, has gone to jail charged with violating the Espionage Act.
The U.S. Air Force veteran and federal contractor from Augusta, Ga. was arrested at her home within one week of federal investigators looking into who had leaked classified documents to news agency The Intercept. The top secret NSA files alleged Russian military intelligence attempts to gain access to American local election officials via an election software vendor, VR Systems, in 2016. The long and short of it is that the phishing expedition would have given access to the computer systems, but not to manipulating votes. Pamela Smith, president of election integrity watchdog Verified Voting, told the Intercept
“This could affect whether someone has the ability to cast a regular ballot, or be required to cast a ‘provisional’ ballot — which would mean it has to be checked for their eligibility before it is included in the vote,” she said. “And it may mean the voter has to jump through certain hoops such as proving their information to the election official before their eligibility is affirmed.”
In plain English, that means the Russians could have forced a voter to show extra forms of identification before voting. It would not have allowed the Russians to flip a Democratic voter’s ballot from Clinton to Trump.
As Americans, we don’t want other governments meddling at all in our elections, sure. But as Americans, we understand what it is to meddle in other countries’ elections. We do it all the time. We shouldn’t be surprised or overreact when others do it to us. Especially when the most that will come of it is having to show extra forms of ID.
However, for Reality Leigh Winner, this information was the smoking gun proving the Leftist media narrative, and worthy of her going to jail for a decade. She had been an Air Force linguist in years past. She worked as a contractor with Pluribus International Corporation in Augusta and had been assigned to an unidentified U.S. government facility since the middle of February. On May 9, she printed out the May 5 NSA report, folded it up and stuck it in her pocket, and subsequently shared that information anonymously with The Intercept. On May 24 a reporter from The Intercept reached out to another contractor who had previously talked with him and showed him the documents. That contractor told The Intercept reporter he thought the documents were fake, and then on June 1 he contacted his higher-ups about a potential leak. On June 3, Winner confessed to an FBI agent and was arrested. She remains in jail and her defense lawyer is to be determined. Many reports have noted how simple it was for investigators to trace the leaked documents back to Winner due to her almost total lack of security measures to protect herself, whereas Edward Snowden took incredible measures to protect his identity.
Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, one of Hillary’s clones on the Senate floor, is beating the drum for making this girl into a hero and martyr. Julian Assange is doing likewise. However, this girl did something that any ordinary federal employee would be prosecuted for. In fact, here’s what that bastion of right-wing conspiracy theories, The Daily Beast, had to say about the propriety of prosecuting those who leak classified information: “…the Obama administration set the precedent, prosecuting more leakers than all other administrations put together.”
Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer who frequently handles classified matters, told The Daily Beast that Winner is not a whistleblower.
“It is titillating for everyone with respect to political bent as to whether the elections were stolen, perhaps,” he said. “But it has absolutely nothing to do with any waste, fraud, abuse, or—more importantly—illegal U.S. government conduct to justify leaking it.”
Zaid added that Winner also likely would have faced charges under the previous administration and that her arrest doesn’t necessarily portend a crackdown on whistleblowers.
“I think the Obama administration would have prosecuted this same case without hesitation,” he said. “It’s not a partisan political prosecution. It is a case that upholds the lawful obligations that those who have access to classified information adhere to every single day.”
The head of VR Systems, the company that was the target of the phishing expedition, was not particularly surprised by the attempted hack.
In response to the report, VR Systems’ Chief Operating Officer Ben Martin told the Intercept: “Phishing and spear-phishing are not uncommon in our industry. We regularly participate in cyber alliances with state officials and members of the law enforcement community in an effort to address these types of threats. We have policies and procedures in effect to protect our customers and our company.”
Ergo, like Zaid said and Winner will find out in court, this information was not worthy of being leaked, as it did not involve vital national security interests or lives at stake that would have otherwise been lost had Winner not leaked the information.
The story is a farce at worst, and a tragedy at best. This girl has done something terrible and illegal on behalf of the lying Left’s narrative. She has gone head-over-heels for every left-wing cause, from the North Dakota Pipeline to climate change to opposing Trump to #BlackLivesMatter.
Chris Menahan of InfoWars summarized it best:
The most remarkable part of this story is how our nation’s standards have collapsed to the point where 25-year-old female social justice warriors are given access to classified information.
It’s also tragic how this beautiful, young girl was radicalized by Hollywood and the entertainment industry into hating herself simply because she was born white.
She’s now likely going to go to prison for a decade and has ruined her life simply to leak uninteresting, classified information she must have thought was proof of some vast Russkie conspiracy which could bring down “Drumpf.”
Hollywood and the fake news media is ruining people’s lives.
| Tweet |
|
|
|
