AUGUSTA, Ga. – A federal judge ordered a young woman charged with leaking classified U.S. documents to remain jailed until her trial after prosecutors argued Thursday she might possess more stolen government secrets.
Wearing an orange jumpsuit and leg shackles, Winner pleaded not guilty in U.S. district court to charges that she illegally retained and transmitted national defense information. The federal crime carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if she&apos;s convicted.
Authorities haven&apos;t described the report or named the news outlet. But the Justice Department announced Winner&apos;s arrest Monday as The Intercept reported it had obtained a classified National Security Agency report suggesting Russian hackers attacked a U.S. voting software supplier before last year&apos;s presidential election. The NSA report was dated May 5, the same as the document Winner is charged with leaking.
Prosecutors warned U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Epps that Winner might have more stolen secrets. Solari said investigators have learned Winner inserted a portable hard drive in a top-secret Air Force computer before she left the military last year. She said authorities don&apos;t know what happened to the drive or what was on it.
Solari said Winner&apos;s laptop also contained software that could enable her to access online black-markets and buy items -- such as a fake ID or passport -- without revealing her identity or location.
"We don&apos;t know how much more she knows and how much more she remembers," Solari said. "But we do know she&apos;s very intelligent. So she&apos;s got a lot of valuable information in her head."
Winner&apos;s mother and stepfather told the judge she had no criminal history and they would use their 20-acre home in Kingsville, Texas, to finance her bond with confidence she would never run.
"Because my client is a millennial and she knows how to use technology, that&apos;s somehow proof of evil intent," said Titus Nichols, Winner&apos;s defense attorney. "The government is scraping and clawing to build a mountain out of a molehill."
"Whether that&apos;s a jest or not, it still concerns me," Epps said.
An FBI affidavit says Winner confessed to copying and mailing the classified report when agents searched her home Saturday. They seized items including cellphones, computers and Winner&apos;s passport.