A former CIA analyst shared high secret paperwork on social media after which tried to cowl his tracks by destroying his private gadgets, in line with the Division of Justice (DoJ).
Asif William Rahman, 34, of Vienna, is going through a most time period of 10 years behind bars after pleading responsible on Friday to 2 counts of willful retention and transmission of categorized info associated to nationwide protection.
A CIA worker since 2016, Rahman “repeatedly” accessed and printed out categorized paperwork, earlier than taking them dwelling the place he altered them to attempt to conceal their supply, in line with the DoJ.
Experiences counsel that this included two high secret paperwork about Israel’s navy plans to hit again at Iran following the latter’s large ballistic missile strike on October 1. Publication of the paperwork on social media was a humiliation to the Pentagon, because it revealed the US spying on a nominal ally at a time of great geopolitical stress within the Center East.
Read more on the CIA: CIA Report Slammed Agency’s Security as “Woefully Lax”.
Rahman printed out the paperwork on November 18, 2024, and a day later they have been being shared on social media.
He then went to intensive efforts to cover his actions, together with deleting and enhancing printed content material revealing his private views on US coverage, and drafting “journal” entries to construct a false narrative about his exercise.
Rahman additionally destroyed a number of digital gadgets, together with a private smartphone and web router used to add the categorized info – throwing them away in a public litter bin.
Rahman was indicted by a grand jury on November 7, 2024, and was arrested by the FBI as he arrived at work 5 days later. He has remained in custody since that point.
The case remembers that of Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira, who was able to print out, {photograph} and share through Discord high secret navy info on Ukrainian battle plans and different secrets and techniques.
After a plea deal, he acquired a sentence of 15 years behind bars in November 2024.
