An attorney for former National Security Agency contractor Reality Winner says that he laughed after reading President Trump’s tweet calling his client’s crime “small potatoes” and describing her prosecution as “so unfair” and evidence of a double standard for Hillary Clinton.
The jailed leaker pleaded guilty to providing The Intercept a copy of a report on Russian attempts to hack state election systems and was sentenced Thursday to more than 5 years in prison, one of the longest terms ever for releasing classified information to a news outlet.
“I just laughed, because nobody really knows the reason why the president says what he does,” defense attorney Titus Nichols told the Washington Examiner.
Nichols said Winner cannot appeal her sentence because she waived her right to do so in pleading guilty, meaning that it’s unlikely her penalty will be reduced. Trump has the power to unilaterally shorten federal sentences, but Nichols said he’s not holding his breath.
“If the president puts out more tweets, that’s totally up to him,” Nichols said. “I honestly do not see the tweet having any substantive effect on her case, I just think it is another one of the president’s tweets.”
Trump criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the tweet and a series of others, indicating he may have been motivated primarily by a desire to rebuke Sessions — who he has aggressively criticized for recusing himself from oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Trump tweeted: “Ex-NSA contractor to spend 63 months in jail over ‘classified’ information. Gee, this is ‘small potatoes’ compared to what Hillary Clinton did! So unfair Jeff, Double Standard.”
[Opinion: NSA leaker Reality Winner got 5 years in prison — which seems about right]
Ex-NSA contractor to spend 63 months in jail over “classified” information. Gee, this is “small potatoes” compared to what Hillary Clinton did! So unfair Jeff, Double Standard.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018
Winner faced a possible 10 years in prison for mishandling national defense information, an Espionage Act charge that theoretically could be used to prosecute Clinton for using a private email server for classified information.
Nichols said that the defense team’s focus was avoiding a maximum sentence for the 25-year-old Georgian. Winner’s defense team and prosecutors agreed to 63 months in prison, and the sentencing judge accepted.
“I was actually glad the judge listened to our recommended plea and accepted it,” he said. “I do find the tweet to be bizarre, but right now as far as the legal strategy, we are just making sure Reality can transition to the next facility without any issues or problems.”
Winner, who was arrested in June 2017 and held without bail, will be transferred to serve her sentence at a prison in Carswell, Texas.
“Do I believe her sentence will be reduced? I’m hopeful. I don’t know if that’s going to happen,” Nichols said. “If by chance the sentence is reduced, that’s fantastic.”
Nichols said that his client, a hero among some transparency activists and opponents of Trump, “is doing great” and looks forward to release.
“She’s a wonderful person. She’s very intelligent. She has a level head and she’s looking forward to putting this whole episode behind her,” he said. “She will probably go back to yoga and being a fitness fanatic.”
