NSA leaker suspect Reality Winner, locked up since June, reportedly smuggled secret documents out of the high security intelligence agency's facility in her pantyhose, Politico reported from a transcript filed in court before a scheduled hearing to consider freeing her on bail.
Winner, 25, is being called the first suspected secrets leaker in President Donald Trump’s administration. Federal prosecutors are using the pantyhose angle to try to get her to talk, Politico suggested.
Her talking so far has included making headlines by complaining about jail food because she is a vegan, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said, and claiming there's new evidence.
Winner stands accused of leaking a classified report on Russian hacking during the 2016 presidential election season, Politico said, noting that she had initially told FBI investigators that she disposed of it in a burn bag.
During the interrogation, she reportedly changed her story, saying she hid the document in her clothing before turning it over to The Intercept, an online news outlet, Politico said.
Winner, a former Air Force linguist with a top-secret security clearance, worked as a government contractor in Augusta, Georgia until June, when she was charged with copying the classified report and giving it to the media, Fox News reported.
She has been in jail since June but U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Epps scheduled a hearing for Friday to reconsider bail.
Her attorneys have said in court filings that prosecutors have not charged her with additional crimes while several suspects in other cases with defendants accused of leaking multiple secret documents were freed on pre-trial bonds, Fox News said.
Prosecutors hope to use the FBI transcript as a way to keep Winner in prison, providing new details as to why she allegedly took a copy of the document from the Fort Gordon NSA facility, Politico said.
Winner reportedly told the FBI she reacted to the report that described Russian spearfishing cyberattacks targeting U.S. voter registration databases and wondered why it was not public.
"I saw the article and was like, I don't understand why this isn't a thing," Winner reportedly told FBI, per Politico. "It made me very mad ... I guess I just didn't care about myself at that point. ... Yeah, I screwed up royally."
Prosecutors also included in Wednesday's filing a partial transcript of a Facebook chat between Winner and her sister in February, USA Today said.
"Look, I only say I hate America like three times a day," Winner wrote, per USA Today. "I'm no radical. It's mostly just about Americans obsession with air conditioning."
Her sister followed up by asking, "But you don't actually hate America, right?"
"I mean yeah I do it's literally the worst thing to happen on the planet," Winner answered, per USA Today. "We invented capitalism, the downfall of the environment."