Reality Winner. (Credit: Lincoln County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office)

Federal lawyers prosecuting accused government leaker Reality Winner are doubling down in a dispute with Winner’s defense team over what should be treated as classified information. They insist that news reports and other public sources citing classified material must be filed under seal and shared only with those who have top security clearances.

Prosecutors contended in court papers filed Monday in federal court in Augusta, Georgia, that if, during the course of Winner’s prosecution, her defense team is given access to classified materials by the government that also have been the subject of published news reports or broadcasts, the defense “must protect the classified information.”