Contractor charged with leaking classified Russian hacking information

The US Department of Justice

announced charges on Monday against a federal contractor with leaking classified information about Russia hacking to an online media outlet, marking the first effort by the Trump administration to crack down on leaks to the media.

Reality Leigh Winner, a 25-year-old contractor with Top Secret security clearance, was accused of "removing confidential material from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet," and was arrested last Saturday, said a federal complaint.

The allegedly leaked material is believed to have been sent to Intercept, who used the material as a basis and published an article on Monday, detailing a US National Security Agency (NSA) memo about a Russian cyberattack on US voting software supplier in 2016.

The cyberattack also sent "spear-phising" emails to over 100 local election officials day before presidential election, Reuters reported. However, there's no concrete evidence that voters have been affected by the hacking.

Winner would face up to 10 years in prison for leaking classified information and a detention hearing is going to take place on Thursday.

(CGTN)