Reality Winner Served More Than Four Years in Prison for Leaking a Single Document on 2016 Russian Election Interference. This Is Why She Did It

At the outset of 2017, I was 25 years old, living in Georgia, and excited about a new career.

The year ended with me in handcuffs and shackles. I would receive the longest federal prison sentence ever imposed on an American citizen for releasing government information to the media.

That wasn’t quite my plan.

There is no typical whistle-blower. Sometimes people like to group me with other individuals who have leaked classified national security information to the media: Daniel Ellsberg , Edward Snowden , John Kiriakou , Thomas Drake , and Chelsea Manning are the best known. I have spoken with Ellsberg, Drake, Manning, and other whistle-blowers at various points in my post-leak life. I have come to believe that far more separates us than unites us. The leakers I have spoken wi