Alleged leaker’s parents fear Trump will be tough on case
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A young woman charged with leaking U.S. government secrets to a reporter poses no flight risk if she’s released from pre-trial confinement, her parents said Wednesday, though they fear prosecutors will seek to use the case to send a tough message from the Trump administration.
It will be difficult for 25-year-old Reality Winner to get a fair trial if her case becomes “this big thing where we’re not going to tolerate leakers,” Winner’s mother, Billie Winner-Davis, told The Associated Press in an interview.
“I think they’re going to try to make an example out of her because of the political climate right now,” Winner-Davis said.
Winner, a former Air Force linguist who now works as a U.S. government contractor, was arrested Saturday by FBI agents on charges that she made copies of a classified report containing top-secret information and mailed it to an online news organization.