Accused leaker asking again for pre-trial release from jail

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Attorneys for a young woman accused of leaking a classified U.S. report want a judge to free her from jail pending trial, arguing prosecutors have added no new charges months after they warned the woman may have stolen additional secrets.

Reality Winner, a former Air Force linguist with a top secret security clearance, worked as a government contractor in Augusta until June, when she was charged with copying a classified report and mailing it to an online news organization.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps has scheduled a hearing Friday to reconsider releasing 25-year-old Winner on bond. He ordered her jailed in June after prosecutors said Winner may have taken more than a single classified report. They said Winner had inserted a portable hard drive into a top-secret Air Force computer before she left the military last year.

Winner’s defense lawyers argued in a court filing Saturday that prosecutors have not accused Winner of any additional crimes more than three months later. They noted several other cases in which defendants accused of leaking multiple secret documents were freed on pre-trial bonds.

“Ms. Winner is accused of leaking a single document a single time to a single source,” Winner’s attorneys wrote. “… Detention should not be presumed. It is not the norm. It is not appropriate here.”

Prosecutors had not yet filed a response Monday afternoon.