NSA leaker Reality Winner tests positive for coronavirus at Texas federal prison

Convicted NSA leaker Reality Winner is one of hundreds of female inmates who have tested positive for the coronavirus at a Texas prison, her family says.

Winner’s mother, Billie Winner-Davis, told CNN her daughter is one of at least 510 inmates and staff at the prison in Fort Worth who, according to a Bureau of Prisons report, have tested positive for the coronavirus.

In a statement to CNN, Winner-Davis urged federal officials to treat inmates with humanity amid the ongoing pandemic, which has caused outbreaks at several federal prison facilities including in Seagoville, Texas, and San Quentin, Calif.

“This could happen to any one of us. Just because someone is an inmate in a prison doesn’t mean that they are less than human. They are still loved,” Winner-Davis told CNN.

“Reality, like many other non-violent first offenders, doesn’t deserve this. This is torture. This could possibly even be a death sentence,” she added.

Winner is due for release in November of next year and in February petitioned President Trump for clemency.

She was sentenced to five years and three months in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to leaking information about Russian election interference in the U.S. to a news site, The Intercept.

The president at the time called her crime “small potatoes” compared to those he alleged without evidence had been committed by his 2016 Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

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