Reality Winner, who leaked info on Russian cyberattacks, pleads guilty to espionage
The Intercept, which published the classified NSA report, blasts government's 'vicious resolve'
A woman accused of leaking U.S. secrets to a news outlet pleaded guilty Tuesday in Federal Court in Georgia.
Reality Winner, 26, entered her guilty plea after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors that calls for her to serve five years and three months behind bars, news outlets reported. A judge will sentence her later.
"All of these actions I did wilfully, meaning I did them of my own free will," she told the court, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Winner has been held without bail since she was arrested in June 2017 and charged under the Espionage Act. Her trial had been set to start Oct. 15.
She is a former Air Force linguist who speaks Arabic and Farsi, and had a top-secret security clearance. She worked for the national security contractor Pluribus International at Fort Gordon in Georgia when she was charged in June 2017 with copying a classified U.S. report and mailing it to an unidentified news organization.
The Justice Department announced Winner's arrest on the same day The Intercept, an online news outlet, reported it had obtained a classified National Security Agency report suggesting Russian hackers attacked a U.S. voting software supplier before the 2016 presidential election.
The NSA report was dated May 5, the same as the document Winner was accused of leaking.
Last year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions pledged that the Department of Justice would take an aggressive stance with those who leak government information.
President Donald Trump has frequently blasted leakers after news reports that depict fighting within his administration.
On its website on Tuesday, the Intercept's editor in chief expressed disappointment with Tuesday's plea.
"Despite the fact that Winner's disclosure served the public interest by alerting Americans to vulnerabilities in our voting system, the Trump-Sessions Justice Department prosecuted her with vicious resolve under the Espionage Act," said Betsy Reed.
"She deserves better from her country, as do all journalistic sources who put themselves at risk for the greater good."
The Intercept's parent company contributed to Winner's legal fund, the website said, but the outlet has said it did not know the identity of the source of the information until the arrest.
With files from CBC News