On June 3, 2017, Reality Leigh Winner was jailed for providing the news media with a classified intelligence assessment that called public attention to a threat to our United States electoral process. A Spear Phishing Attack targeted election support companies during the US 2016 Presidential Election. Many consider her disclosure a public service because it allowed the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to send out industry-standard warnings to the targeted companies. Protecting the vote and their election equipment was a priority, yet Homeland Security couldn’t warn the contractors because it was classified.  

Thanks to Reality Winner the public has been informed & we should be able to take defensive measures if the government wants to do so. The EAC had hashtagged #RealityWinner on Twitter when she blew the whistle on this election interference, but despite this, it’s still unclear as to how much of our election infrastructure has been breached.

When Reality first petitioned for clemency in Feb 2020, former President Trump was in office and there were over 13k petitions backlogged due to Trump skipping over the US Pardon Attorney and taking his cue of whose petition to grant from celebrities and those with money.

The current US Pardon Attorney is Rosalind Sargent-Burns & was appointed by Bill Barr in May 2019. With so many petitions backlogged due to Trump skipping the Pardoning process, US Pardon Attorney Sargent-Burns has a lot of work in front of her. Advocates need to help her and President Biden become aware of Reality’s petition for clemency that has been in pending status for over a year.

Sign the petition to add your name: “We the undersigned call on President Biden to pardon Reality Winner or commute her sentence to time served."

LETTER TEXT:

Dear President Joe Biden,

We urge you to grant executive clemency to former NSA contractor Reality Leigh Winner for the offense of releasing a single document substantiating Russian efforts to breach elections systems in several states. We believe her immediate release is justified for the following reasons:

Reality's motivation for releasing the document was strictly intended to inform the public, not for personal gain, and her revelation resulted in no known harm.

The Department of Justice prevented her attorneys from mounting a suitable defense, ensuring her conviction.

Her record-breaking 63 month sentence was grossly disproportional compared to sentences handed down for similar unauthorized disclosures.

Reality freely admits her guilt and has expressed deep regret for her actions. She has already served 43 months of her 63 month sentence and there is no benefit to further incarceration.

Imprisoned at Carswell Federal Medical Center, Reality feels threatened by the COVID epidemic that's sweeping through the complex.

More importantly, decorated Air Force veteran Reality Leigh Winner is a gifted, compassionate, principled woman. Her crime was an act of conscience. During her incarceration, she's tutored other prisoners and taught exercise classes. Following her release, Reality wishes to devote her efforts to help families and children, and advocate for social and climate justice.  

President Biden, we encourage you to commute Reality Winner's prison sentence at your earliest opportunity.

Thank you for your time and consideration,