Before the authorities revealed the suspect's identity, how did The Times ascertain the individual at the center of the Pentagon leak?

In June 2018, The New York Times published an article that identified a former military linguist, Reality Winner, as the source of a classified National Security Agency report on Russian hacking efforts during the 2016 US presidential election. The article caused a stir both in the media and in the government, as it was the first public confirmation of Russian interference in the election and the first time a leaker had been identified in the Trump administration.

The Times’ ability to identify the leaker before the authorities announced her name was due to a combination of factors, including careful investigative reporting, careful handling of anonymous sources, and sheer luck. Here’s a closer look at how it all came together.

The Leak

The leak in question was a classified report from the National Security Agency that detailed Russian hacking efforts during the 2016 election. The report had been produced for President Obama in the final days of his administration, and was one of several classified documents that were leaked to the press in the early days of the Trump administration.

The Times received a copy of the report from an anonymous source who claimed to be a government contractor. The source contacted the newspaper through a secure messaging app, and provided a copy of the report in exchange for assurances of anonymity.

Investigative Reporting

Once The Times had the report in hand, the paper’s investigative reporters began the process of verifying its authenticity and identifying its source. This involved analyzing the language and formatting of the document, as well as conducting interviews with experts and officials who had seen the original report.

The paper’s reporters quickly realized that the document was authentic, and that it was likely to have come from the NSA. They also began to suspect that the leaker was someone with access to classified information who was not a high-level government official.

Anonymous Sources

To protect the anonymity of their sources, The Times’ reporters used a variety of techniques to communicate with them securely. This included using encrypted messaging apps, meeting sources in person, and communicating through intermediaries.

One key source for the story was an anonymous government contractor who had provided the classified report to The Times. The contractor, who used the pseudonym “Reality Leigh Winner,” communicated with the paper through a secure messaging app, and provided additional details about the report and her motivation for leaking it.

Luck

As The Times was working to identify the source of the leak, they received an unexpected break in the case. A reporter from The Intercept, another news organization, contacted the NSA with a copy of the classified report, and asked for comment on its contents.

The Intercept’s handling of the report was different from The Times’. The Intercept did not redact identifying information from the document, and the copy they provided to the NSA contained a unique set of creases that allowed the agency to determine that it had been printed from a specific printer.

Using this information, the NSA was able to track down the printer in question, which was located at a government facility in Georgia. The agency then looked at the employees who had access to the printer and quickly identified Reality Winner as a suspect.

The winner was arrested shortly thereafter, and The Times was able to confirm her identity through its own reporting.

In conclusion, The Times’ ability to identify Reality Winner as the source of the classified report on Russian hacking was due to a combination of careful investigative reporting, careful handling of anonymous sources, and luck. The paper’s reporters were able to piece together clues from the report itself, as well as from their sources, to narrow down the pool of suspects. And when the NSA was able to identify Winner using its own investigative techniques, The Times was able to confirm her identity through its own reporting.