‘LOT OF BITTERNESS’

Reality Winner Vents at The Intercept: ‘I Wasn’t the First Source That They Burned’

The whistleblower, released from prison in June, said the news outlet burned sources in a desperate bid for relevance.

Reality Winner, the NSA whistleblower imprisoned for four years for printing and leaking a classified document, has some choice words for The Intercept, the outlet she mailed the document to. Released from prison in June, Winner told Rolling Stone in her first interview since captivity, “I wasn’t the first source that they burned and I definitely wasn’t the last—two other people have done prison time [due to] them being extremely sloppy… Every time one of their sources goes to prison, that’s another headline for them. That’s how they stay relevant—by burning sources, instead of the journalism that they once believed in.” The Intercept reviewed the reporting process that led to Winner’s imprisonment and concluded it “made errors in the course of verifying a document that came to us anonymously,” according to editor-in-chief Betsy Reed. Winner added, “I have a lot of bitterness in my heart towards them.”