United States

Feds Arrest NSA Contractor in Leak of Top Secret Russia Document

Reality Leigh Winner, 25, was arrested Saturday and faces a single charge of "gathering, transmitting, or losing defense information" to The Intercept.

A woman was arrested for leaking a top-secret National Security Agency document that reveals details about Russian hacking's influence on the U.S. presidential election, a senior federal official told NBC News.

Reality Leigh Winner, 25, was charged with "gathering, transmitting, or losing defense information" to The Intercept.

The story published Monday features a secret NSA document that notes efforts by the Russian government to hack into a voting software company approximately a week before the election. While the document doesn't say the hacking changed any votes, it "raises the possibility that Russian hacking may have breached at least some elements of the voting system, with disconcertingly uncertain results."

The document was classified at some of the highest levels.

Winner is a contractor with Pluribus International Corporation since mid-February, with a Top Secret clearance, authorities said. The NSA has a facility in Georgia.

The FBI said when they approached Winner she admitted to printing out the document, removing it from her place of work and mailing it to The Intercept. 

The report is published just a days after NBC's Megyn Kelly sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the hacking accusations, which Putin vehemently denies. Putin said that "it wouldn't make sense" for Russia to interfere with the election. 

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