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“Reality Winner’s sentence: culminations of an effort to break a whistleblower’s spirit” shadowproof.com/2018/08/21/rea…
“The sentence offered by the government in return for a guilty plea was extraordinary when compared to other leak prosecutions. However, it fit into the vicious nature of the prosecution, which Winner endured.” @kgosztola 
“She was in the United States Air Force for six years. She is fluent in Dari, Farsi, and Pashto and worked as a language analyst. When she left the Air Force, she was employed as an NSA contractor at Fort Gordon.” @kgosztola
”Most officials would view this as commendable service, but prosecutors turned her service against her in order to have her held in detention before trial. Because she supposedly had an interest in the Middle East.” @kgosztola
“They transformed her training and skills into evidence that she may try to flee the country instead of facing the charge against her.” @kgosztola
“The govt made false claims about conversations Winner had with her mother, Billie Winner-Davis, and family members at Lincolnton County Jail in Georgia, where she was incarcerated. The claims were used in a detention hearing to convince a judge to deny her bail.” @kgosztola
“First, prosecutors insisted Winner had said she “leaked documents.” They only knew of one document so they argued they needed time to figure out if there were any other files on her electronic devices.” @kgosztola
” But that was a fabrication because she clearly only said “leaked document” in the recorded conversation, and they had to apologize. The prosecutors concocted a narrative about $30,000 in Winner’s bank account, which she tried to move out to pay for her attorneys. “@kgosztola
“Yet, the damage was largely done. Several pretexts were crafted to persuade a judge and an appeals court that she was devious and a potential flight risk. They even succeeded in planting seeds that led the appeals court to agree it was plausible Winner “hated” America.”
The forced plea came... because she was detained, to meet with her attorneys she remained shackled at. Her wait 12 hours during the day. She could not even used her own hands to drink water. Bathroom trip - complete strip search. Return to jail - complete strip search.
“Humiliating and degrading strip searches serve the purpose of domination—ensuring a prisoner recognizes who is in control. Yet, for women who suffer from any kind of mental health issues or have past histories of sexual abuse, it is hugely traumatizing.” @kgosztola
Please read this story and how the full weight of the government treats a young female veteran, not rich, and a non-Washington insider. It’s shameful what’s happened to Reality Winner. We must do everything we can to advocate for her release. Her sentence was unfair and unjust.
