Ex-CIA analyst pleads guilty to leaking Top Secret National Defense Information to aid Iran

(Pictured:  Asif William Rahman, arrested last year by the FBI in Cambodia for leaking Top Secret Classified information. Image credit: Guam Department of Corrections)

On January 17, a former CIA analyst pled guilty in federal court in Virginia to retaining and transmitting Top Secret National Defense Information to people who were not entitled to receive it, information which was publicly posted on a social media platform in October 2024. Asif William Rahman, 34, of Vienna, Virginia, was an employee of the CIA since 2016 and had a Top Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).

The top secret documents Rahman leaked were classified documents regarding Israel’s preparations to attack Iran late-last year, according to the Department of Justice.

“Asif Rahman is pleading guilty in federal court three months to the day that he disclosed top secret American documents in violation of his oath, his responsibility, and the law,” said Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.  “This District, in partnership with federal law enforcement and the intelligence community, exemplified dedication, skill, and speed to bring him to justice expeditiously.  Mr. Rahman’s actions placed lives at risk, undermined U.S. foreign relations, and compromised our ability to collect vital intelligence in the future.”

Background:  On October 17, 2024, Rahman accessed and printed two Top Secret documents containing National Defense Information regarding a U.S. foreign ally and its planned actions against a foreign adversary. Rahman removed the documents, photographed them, and transmitted them to individuals he knew were not entitled to receive them.  By October 18, 2024, the documents appeared publicly on multiple social media platforms, complete with the classification markings.

At the time, Israel was preparing to respond to a major Iranian ballistic missile attack on October 1, which involved more than 200 ballistic missiles launched at targets across Israel. The leak of the documents was a rare occasion that exposed US spying on its own allies, and it risked straining relations between the US and Israel at a time when the Biden administration was trying to pressure Israel to limit its military operations in Gaza and abroad.  ~ CNN

After October. 17, 2024, Rahman deleted and edited journal entries and written work product on his personal electronic devices to conceal his personal opinions on U.S. policy and drafted entries to construct a false narrative regarding his activity.  Rahman also destroyed multiple electronic devices, including a personal mobile device and an internet router he used to transmit classified information and photographs of classified documents, and discarded the destroyed devices in public trash receptacles in an effort to thwart potential investigations into him and his unlawful conduct.

Israel carried out a retaliatory attack on air defense systems and missile manufacturing facilities in Iran in late October. In court papers, the government has said the leak caused Israel to delay its attack plans.  ~ The Associated Press

Beginning in the spring of 2024 and continuing through November 2024, Rahman repeatedly accessed and printed classified National Defense Information, including documents classified up to the Top Secret level, to take them to his residence. There, Rahman reproduced the documents and, while doing so, altered them in an effort to conceal their source and his activity. Rahman then communicated Top Secret information that he learned in the course of his employment to multiple individuals he knew were not entitled to receive it.

Rahman was indicted by a grand jury on November 7, 2024, and was arrested by the FBI as he arrived to work on November 12, 2024 in Cambodia.  He has remained in custody since his arrest.

Rahman pled guilty to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to the national defense. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 25. He faces up to 10 years in prison for both counts in the plea agreement. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Washington Field Office is investigating the case.  For  ore on the story and the original charges brought against Rahman, see the video below.

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(Source: FBI)

Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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