Reality Winner, the former National Security Agency contractor charged with leaking a classified document to a US news outlet, has decided to plead guilty.

Winner, 26, is scheduled to plead guilty in US District Court on June 26, according to US Department of Justice spokesman Ian Prior.

Online court records show a plea agreement was filed on Thursday.

Court documents did not indicate what exact charge Winner will plead guilty to, although she was indicted for one count of violating the federal Espionage Act.

Reality Winner, the former National Security Agency contractor charged with leaking a classified document to a US news outlet, will plead guilty

Winner, 26, is scheduled to plead guilty in US District Court on June 26, according to US Department of Justice spokesman Ian Prior

Winner has been held without bond at the Lincoln County Jail since her arrest in June 2017.

She allegedly copied a classified NSA report suggesting that Russian hackers attacked a US voting software supplier before the 2016 presidential election.

It is believed Winner then provided the document to online news publication The Intercept, which published an in-depth report about Russian cyber-attacks on a US voting supplier.

On the same day the article was published on The Intercept, Winner was arrested.

The decorated former US Air Force linguist told federal authorities that she smuggled classified documents out of her office in Augusta, Georgia by stuffing them in her pantyhose.

Winner also confessed to FBI agents: 'Yeah, I screwed up royally.'

She told investigators that, at the time, she believed the contents of the report should be in the public debate.

'I saw the article and was like, I don't understand why this isn't a thing,' she said. 'It made me very mad... I guess I just didn't care about myself at that point.'

Court documents did not indicate what exact charge Winner will plead guilty to, although she was indicted for one count of violating the federal Espionage Act

Winner allegedly copied a classified NSA report (pictured) suggesting that Russian hackers attacked a US voting software supplier before the 2016 presidential election

It is believed Winner then provided the document to online news publication The Intercept, which published an in-depth report about Russian cyber-attacks on a US voting supplier

The decorated former US Air Force linguist told federal authorities that she smuggled classified documents out of her office in Augusta, Georgia by stuffing them in her pantyhose

Authorities haven't described the classified report Winner is accused of leaking or named the news outlet that received it.

But the Justice Department announced Winner's arrest on the same day the Intercept reported it had obtained a classified NSA report.

The Intercept story states that the document raises the possibility that Russian-based hackers 'may have breached at least some elements of the voting system,' bringing the investigation of election interference to a new level.

Previous analyses by the intelligence community have stated that Russia was behind hacking into the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chair in an effort to impact the election.

The NSA report was dated May 5, the same as the document Winner is charged with leaking.

Winner told investigators that, at the time, she believed the contents of the report should be in the public debate and 'didn't care about herself at that point'

The Justice Department announced Winner's arrest on the same day the Intercept reported it had obtained a classified NSA report

The NSA was quickly able to link the leak back to Winner after The Intercept presented them with stolen documents for verification.

NSA officers were able to determine, by analyzing creases in the pages and a secret series of 'tracking dots' on the paper, that they had been printed at the NSA's Augusta, Georgia offices.

Only six people had access to those printers, making it easy for federal agents to narrow down the suspects.

After investigators found communication between Winner and the news site, she was arrested.

Winner's case has divided opinion. Some brand her a traitor, others believe she is a hero

Winner was facing up to 10 years in prison following her indictment. It remains unknown what sentencing she will face now that she has taken a plea deal.

Winner's case has divided opinion, with some branding her a 'traitor' but others hailing her as a hero.

It bares resemblance to the case of Chelsea Manning, a transgender US Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 for leaking nearly three-quarters of a million classified or sensitive military materials to Wikileaks.

She said at the time she'd been moved to release the secret information because she 'believed I was going to help people'. She wanted to provide a real record of the realities of war, and give a human face to the casualties.

Manning was sentenced to 35 years at the maximum-security U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth but had her sentence commuted by then-President Obama to just seven years, and she was freed on May 17.