The National Security Agency leak trial targeting Reality Winner has been postponed a second time and is now set to begin Oct. 15, meaning Winner will likely be kept behind bars for more than a year before she sees a jury.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Epps issued the new scheduling order Friday amid arguments about whether he should throw out the initial statements Winner made to the FBI when she was arrested at her home in Augusta last year. Winner is arguing the FBI didn’t advise her of her Miranda rights before she gave her statements. Epps is expected to issue a ruling in the coming days.
RELATED: Accused NSA leaker Reality Winner seeks release from jail
Winner, the first person to be prosecuted by the Trump administration on allegations of leaking, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of giving an NSA report about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election to The Intercept, an online news publication. She is being prosecuted under the Espionage Act and faces 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
Her trial was first scheduled to begin on Oct. 23 of last year and then was rescheduled to start Monday. She has been held in the Lincoln County Jail without bond since her arrest in June.
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