U.S. Department of Homeland Security former general counsel Joe D. Whitley was added to accused government leaker Reality Winner's defense team thanks to a partner at Arnold Porter Kaye Scholer whose client First Look Media is now helping to fund Winner's defense.

Arnold Porter partner Baruch Weiss confirmed this week that he recruited Whitley, now a partner at Baker Donelson in Atlanta, to support and augment the work of Bell & Brigham, a small Augusta, Georgia, firm that initially took on Winner's defense and will remain on the case.

He also confirmed that First Look Media—owner of The Intercept, the publication Winner is accused of leaking to—will pay Whitley's legal fees and those of the other Baker Donelson lawyers he brings with him. The Intercept is an online news outlet originally founded to publish reports based on reams of classified materials provided by Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the U.S. National Security Agency. Winner, a 25-year-old former U.S. Air Force veteran, was working for NSA contractor Pluribus International Corp. in Augusta.