Who is Ali Watkins?

An affair  between a female reporter and a Senate Intelligence Committee  staffer has rattled media in the United States.

Mrs Watkins, 26, a New York Times reporter, is facing accusations by Trump allies of swapping sex for secrets while being used by James.A Wolfe, 57, to advance an anti-Trump agenda.

She helped McClatchy New win Pulitzer award for an insider story about the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence few years ago.

After resigning from McClatchy she has worked for Huffpost, BuzzFeed, Politico before landing a job in New York Times.

According to US media, the reporter began a romantic relationship with Wolfe in 2013 that lasted for four years before the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) intervened as part of Trump Administration's efforts against leak of classified information.

The couple exchanged thousands of messages and met at secluded spots, inclduing Senate office stairwells, restaurants and her apartment, the reports said.

The relationship ended in December 2017 when Ali Watkins was hired by the New York Times.

Wolfe, who has worked for the Senate panel for decades, denied the allegations despite the messages seized by the FBI.

The McClatchy Senate reporting was finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. Her name and two other reporters are listed on the Pulitzer website.

A report published in local media suggests that Wolfe, then Ali Watkin's lover, was a source of the story.

The Australian newspaper on Monday reported that The New York Times reporter is under scrutiny over the first known leak investigation of the Trump Administration.

The newspaper said the NYT has launched an investigation into the activities of Watkins who is facing accusation by Trump allies of swapping sex for secrets while being used by a much older man. 

The news of the seuzure of Watkins records surfaced when Wolfe  was arrested and charged with lying to investigators about his contacts with three reporters including Watkins.

She, however, denies that Wolfe provided her with information.