Why Reality Winner matters

From Texas Public Radio:

Reality Winner’s story has already been told. There have been two feature films, including the 2023 movie “Reality” starring Sydney Sweeney based on the actual transcript of Winner’s arrest. There’s also a Reality Winner documentary, a Broadway play. She was featured on This American Life and has gotten the attention of a lot of news media. The story of the South Texan has been told over and again.

And from all of this attention, Winner has made exactly zero dollars.

“I am prohibited from profiting from anything with my name or my story,” Winner said.

The same is true with her new book. She doesn’t even get free copies. “I have to buy my own book,” she said.

So, if the book “Reality Winner: I am Not Your Enemy” is not a cash grab, then why write it?

“There were still questions about my story, my life and my personality and the reason why I do what I do,” Winner said.

I met Winner and her eight dogs at her home on the dusty outskirts of Kingsville, Texas. I made sure to bring plenty of doggie treats. Four of the dogs are permanent and four are rescued strays that Winner will find homes for.

The house belongs to Winner’s mom. On the wall there’s a mounted buffalo head. Winner said she rescued it from a dumpster.

Winner does seem to like to rescue lost things — perhaps including America’s democracy.

We then went to Winner’s second home—the CrossFit gym where she coaches.

“I applied at Walmart, and I never heard anything back. I don’t know if it’s because of my name or checking that box for criminal background. It’s just a blessing being able to at least be a CrossFit coach,” she said.

Winner said in Kingsville if people recognize her name, it’s because they know her family. “’Oh, you must be Britney’s sister,’” she said, repeating what others around town say to her.

But outside of South Texas, her name has baggage.

“I get the word ‘traitor’ a lot, and in a sense, I did take an oath to not disclose that information. I don’t a hundred percent disagree with them, even though I did what I did to make this country a better place,” she said.

Winner said she doesn’t like it when people call her a hero either.

“I wish it were something more towards the middle—of somebody who made a mistake,” she said.

In June 2017, Winner was 24 and working as a contractor for the National Security Agency when she printed out a classified report and mailed it to an online news outfit.

“I never talk about that document,” she said. If she does, then she could go back to prison. But it confirmed, with U.S. intelligence evidence, that Russia’s military intelligence agency had tried to penetrate America’s voting systems. They launched spear-phishing attacks on state election offices and even a private voting software company.

President Trump continues to call this a Barack Obama-orchestrated hoax.
In July in the Oval Office Trump said when asked about Jeffery Epstein, “The witch hunt that you should be talking about is that they caught President Obama absolutely cold.”

If it is a hoax, says Winner, “I would love my pardon then”— because Winner was arrested under the Espionage Act. She eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than five years in prison — the longest sentence ever given for that kind of crime.

But both can’t be true. Winner can’t be guilty of leaking national secrets while simultaneously—according to Trump— RussiaGate is a hoax.

”It doesn’t matter. What I leaked is very real, and I should suffer because of it. But at the same time, they can also hurt others by saying it’s not real,” she said.

Winner is conflicted. She’s still worried about the state of the democracy, but she wonders if she should use her name and story to join the protests.

“I can keep arguing that this is a thing that happened, or I can keep my head down and rescue dogs,” she said.

Is Winner a traitor or a patriot? Is her story a cautionary tale or inspiring? That depends on your view of reality.

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