Trump administration starts crackdown on leakers with first case

Intelligence contractor Reality Leigh Winner, 25, who has top secret clearance, was arrested Saturday and admitted in a federal district court Monday that she leaked to news outlets a secret document describing a Russian hacking operation during the 2016 election campaign. The document, an NSA report dated May 5, 2017, was cited in the criminal complaint brought by the Justice Department against Winner. Which outlet received the materials was not speficied but NBC News named it asThe Intercept online news outlet, which ran a top secret NSA report Monday that alleged Russian military intelligence launched a 2016 cyberattack on a voting software company.

US President Donald Trump and Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have determined to prosecute the intelligence leakers, who they claim are discrediting and disrupting the administration’s agenda. Monday's charges against Winner under the Espionage Act were their first concrete step.