Accused leaker tells the FBI how she leaked secret report, transcript reveals

Reality Winner is being held accused under the Espionage Act of leaking classified information. Photo / AP

A national Security Agency contractor accused of leaking classified information told FBI agents how she stuffed a secret document in her pantyhose.

That's according to a transcript filed by federal prosecutors in a case against Reality Winner, a 25-year-old linguist accused of leaking classified information to investigative news source, The Intercept.

The transcript reveals the conversation between Winner and two special FBI agents, as well as another unidentified male, when they arrive at her house with a search warrant, reports News.com.au.

After talk about her rescue pets, crossfit, field deployments and her "resting bitch face", the agents ask her if she took classified information out of the office.

Winner initially denies taking the file and said she placed it in a burn bag at the office.

However she eventually admits she "folded it in half in my pantyhose," the transcript shows.

"I'm not trying to be a whistleblower. That's crazy," she said. "I wasn't trying to be a Snowden or anything."

"I just figured that whatever we were using had already been compromised, and that this report was just going to be like a one drop in the bucket."

The document is believed to be the "highly classified intelligence report" cited by The Intercept one month later in an article about Russian hacking into the 2016 election.

Winner was charged under the Espionage Act by the Justice Department an hour after the story was published.

The online news source was founded by journalist Glenn Greenwald, who reported on Edward Snowden documents, and was severely criticised for failing to protect its sources.

The FBI said the news outlet shared an original copy of the document with them which included giveaway crease marks showing it must have been printed by someone close to the source. The organisation is now helping fund Winner's legal fees.

Donald Trump has announced a crackdown on leakers under his administration. Photo / AP

At the time of the search warrant, Winner said she decided to leak the information after saying "I don't understand why this isn't a thing" in the national debate.

The transcript shows her saying she "screwed up royally" and asking "am I going to jail tonight?" before making arrangements for her rescue pets.

It comes as Winner's lawyers want the Pashto-speaker freed from jail ahead of a trial, saying there have been no new charges against her.

US Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps scheduled a hearing for Friday to reconsider her release.

In June, he ordered her jailed amid concerns she had taken more than one report.
However Winner's lawyers say she has not been accused of additional crimes and should be free on bail.

"Ms. Winner is accused of leaking a single document a single time to a single source," her lawyers said. "Detention should not be presumed. It is not the norm. It is not appropriate here."

The transcript shows Winner had previously filed a complaint at her office about them playing Fox News at work.

"For God's sake, put Al Jazeera on, or a slide show with people's pets. I've tried everything to get that changed," she said.