The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A chronology of Winner’s life and how the case against her unfolded.

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The Augusta federal contractor who was charged Monday with leaking top-secret informatio­n to the press met with members of U.S. Sen. David Perdue’s staff earlier this year, the Republican lawmaker’s office confirmed.

Reality Leigh Winner, a 25-year-old contractor with Pluribus Internatio­nal Corp., posted a selfie with her eyebrows raised outside the firstterm senator’s Atlanta office to Facebook on Feb. 14.

“A great American once told us to go out and have conversati­ons with one another,” Winner wrote in the post, in which she also wrote that she was “feeling optimistic.”

A Perdue spokeswoma­n confirmed Tuesday that aides from the senator’s Atlanta office indeed met with Winner in February to discuss “environmen­tal issues.”

“Our team meets with hundreds of Georgians monthly to discuss issues important to them,” the spokeswoma­n said in a statement. She said Perdue’s office does not ask about employment in routine meetings with constituen­ts and that Winner’s work as a federal contractor did not come up then.

“The allegation­s against Ms. Winner are very serious, and if true, directly threaten our national security,” the spokeswoma­n said. “I trust our Justice Department will get to the bottom of this and handle it appropriat­ely.”

Using a pseudonym, Winner frequently posted to Twitter about her liberal political views and her revulsion to President Donald Trump and his policies. Her feeds show she was particular­ly passionate about climate change, refugees, Syria’s civil war and the citizens of Iran, one of the United States’ top adversarie­s.

After a friend asked about her meeting with Perdue’s staff, Winner said it went “really well.”

“I can’t believe I got a private 30 minute meeting, and his state policy director is going to send me email updates on some of my concerns regarding climate change and what the state of Georgia is doing to reduce dependency on fossil fuels,” she wrote.

Winner said she also told Perdue staffers that senators should “not be afraid to directly state when our president or his Cabinet tell outright lies.” She said her suggestion was “well heard.”

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