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Comment by danblick | Hacker News Reader

I have to say: I think Snowden is a hero, but based on what I know right now I'm not sympathetic to Reality Winner.

To me, it seems like this leak undermined several ongoing investigations and hurt our chances of getting to the truth. (With this information exposed, anyone being investigated will have their guard up now.)

I wonder: what was she thinking? I imagine she must have thought she was doing the right thing (rather than leaking for personal gain). Did she think this information would not reach the public for some reason? It's clear she didn't like Trump. Was this really just a reckless leak?

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> Did she think this information would not reach the public for some reason?

Considering Trump ostensibly, and in his own words, fired Comey for not bringing the investigation into the "Russian" connection[0] to a swift end and that there was a possibility that he could have prevented Comey from testifying, it's pretty reasonable to assume she was acting under he assumption that this information may never see the light of day.

I do feel some pity for her as her prosecution and likely sentencing will not only serve as a warning for future leakers (just another highly flawed judicial concept in the American "justice" system), it will likely be handled in some capacity by Jeff Sessions, a paleolithic scumbag who sees our incarceration rates and prison environments as a feature, not a bug.

[0] http://bigthink.com/videos/jordan-greenhall-how-russias-elec... -Short, yet fascinating talk about the evolution, structure and operation of modern day propaganda

> in his own words, fired Comey for not bringing the investigation into the "Russian" connection to a swift end

Do you have a quote of this?

First they claim electronic voting is safe, then they keep secret incidents which might make the public think otherwise.

Ensuring the public gets a secure voting method (paper) is much more important than catching who did it. And I'm far from confident this incident would have eventually been made public.

Wait what? It corroborates rather than undermines any investigation into what went on during the election process. Anyone in the NSA reading about this (i.e. everyone in the NSA) will now have all the more reason to step forward if they really care about the truth.

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