HBO Releases a Movie Based on Augusta Document Leaker – Reality Winner
HBO has released a new docu-drama based on Augusta woman, Reality Winner, who leaked classified information.
She was working as a contractor at a National Security Office, Pluribus International, in 2017, at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga.
During that time, Winner stole and printed a classified report about Russian hackers working to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. She mailed the documents to an online news outlet.
After initially pleading not guilty, Winner eventually pleaded guilty to leaking classified information under the Espionage Act. She received a sentencing of 63 months in the Lincoln County jail. In 2017, this was the longest time given for leaking government secrets to the media. The Air Force veteran was released in 2021 on probation and is currently still serving probation.
The movie is titled “Reality” based on Tina Satter’s 2019 play “Is This a Room.” Satter also directs the film.
Actress Sydney Sweeny plays Winner in the film. The film is based on true events – even the dialogue in the movie was taken from a transcript of a 2017 interrogation with Winner. Sweeny says she got to speak with Winner and worked hard to personify her accurately throughout the film.
Since her release, Winner has been very active on social media and even appeared on 60 Minutes for an interview. In the interview she stated “she felt the American people were being misled about her and she argued she “only acted out of love for what the country stood for.”
