Reality Winner who leaked Russian 2016 US election meddling seeks early release from Trump

US National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Reality Winner submitted her clemency petition to US President Donald Trump seeking an early release, after being imprisoned for leaking classified documents on Russian meddling in 2016 US Presidential elections. The whistleblower's lawyer, addressing a press brief in US' Dallas, sought 'forgiveness' for 'truth-tellers', international media reported. 

"Our country was attacked by a hostile foreign power. Our national healing process cannot begin until we forgive our truth-tellers and begin the job of rebuilding what was taken from us: election security, accountability for those who endeavor to undermine our democracy and safeguarding the American right to government by and for the people. None of this can begin in earnest while we are still punishing those who tell us the truth."

In her petition submitted to Donald Trump along with over 4,000 letters of support, Winner noted that she was not working with a foreign body to conspire against the US, and her actions were only out of desire to publicise the information. Her petition said, the Winner's "continued incarceration is costly, unnecessary to protect the public, burdensome to her health and wellbeing, and not commensurate with the severity of her offense." In the petition signed by the whistleblower, delivered to the Oval Office cited her military service, health conditions, poor treatment in prison and circumstances in the case. 

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Winner was charged under the Espionage Act in 2017 for retrieving classified documents from a government office and leaking it to a news outlet, the US Justice Department said. In June 2017, the Intercept published a story on a compromised US electoral process under cyberattack, detailing how Russian hackers intervened in the voting software and conducted "spear phishing"attacks against local US election officials. 

She was awarded five-year prison sentence in August 2018 after she admitted the violation of the Espionage Act. Backing the whistleblower, Donald Trump had tweeted, "Gee, this is “small potatoes” compared to what Hillary Clinton did!" 

WikiLeaks backs Winner 

Julian Assange, the Wikileaks publisher was quick to exude his support for Winner. He said, "Alleged NSA whistleblower Reality Leigh Winner must be supported. She is a young woman accused of courage in trying to help us know." The WikiLeaks founder, currently imprisoned in Belmarsh is slapped with 18 charges in the US including the Espionage Act after publishing classified documents of US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, conspiring to hack into US government system. Often oscillating between the titles of a journalist, publisher, data warrior, and a spy, Assange claimed global notability for divulging war crimes of the United States during the nation's 'war against terror.' However, if indicted the whistleblower could face up to 175 years in prison.

Trump promised to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange if he denied Russia leaked emails of his 2016 election rival's campaign, a London court was told on Wednesday. WikiLeaks had published the emails, which proved politically damaging to Hillary Clinton, before the November 2016 vote. The revelation came at a case management hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court before Monday's formal start of Washington's extradition request for him to face espionage charges. If found guilty in the United States, he could be jailed for 175 years.

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