Reality Winner, the National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who leaked a top secret memo about Russian hacking during the 2016 election, is asking to subpoena 21 states and several leading cybersecurity firms for information that could aid in her defense.
Lawyers for Winner revealed in a court filing Friday that they want to subpoena representatives of the states formally notified by the Department of Homeland Security last September that they were targeted by hackers the U.S. government says were acting on behalf of the Russian government.
Winner's attorneys also listed 10 cybersecurity companies they contend could have information useful to her defense: TrendMicro, FireEye, Eset, CrowdStrike, Volexity, F-Secure Corporation, ThreatConnect, Motherboard, Secureworks and Fidelis Cybersecurity.
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Winner, an experienced linguist who served in the Air Force before going to work at an NSA office studying Iranian military aerospace capabilities, was arrested by the FBI at her home in Augusta, Georgia, last June after she allegedly sent the online news outlet the Intercept a highly classified NSA report on election-related spearphishing attempts.
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Prosecutors have not responded publicly since the defense's submission last week about the subpoenas, but earlier last month the prosecution suggested Winner's requests were likely to be too sweeping.
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“The subpoenas are likely to put third parties to the task of gathering reams of information that the Court may ultimately deem irrelevant, inadmissible, impermissibly imprecise, or otherwise inappropriate for production," prosecutors wrote. "In communications with the Court and the undersigned, defense counsel has indicated a desire to subpoena numerous federal agencies for a wide array of generally described material; such an unchecked fishing expedition would constitute an oppressive and frivolous waste of government resources."
Read more: Accused NSA leaker wants to subpoena states, cybersecurity firms and federal agencies (Politico)
Feds Arrest NSA Contractor in Leak of Top Secret Russia Document (NBC News)