A 37-year-old former United States government contractor from Spring Lake, North Carolina, has been arrested by federal agents for allegedly leaking classified national defence information on social media and stealing specialized military equipment.
James Thomas Ashbacher was taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday following the unsealing of an indictment charging him with unlawfully transmitting and retaining national defence information, alongside the theft of government property.
According to court documents, Ashbacher was employed by a private firm providing security and emergency management services at the US Army Special Operations Command facility in Fort Liberty, formerly known as Fort Bragg, beginning around 2021. In order to carry out his duties, he was granted top secret security clearance with sensitive compartmented information access.
Federal prosecutors allege that Ashbacher secretly photographed and removed videos and images depicting classified military operations without authorization. He is accused of posting these sensitive materials onto a popular social media platform, where they were subsequently reshared by other users across a second platform.
The indictment further reveals that Ashbacher later reached out to a social media user in a private message requesting the removal of some of the leaked content, admitting in the exchange that he was trying to carry out damage control.
A subsequent search of Ashbacher’s residence uncovered a classified award document containing additional national defence information. FBI agents also recovered a night vision goggle system specifically assigned to a military unit within the Army Special Operations Command that had previously been reported missing.
The case is currently being investigated by the FBI Charlotte Field Office, with significant assistance from the US Department of the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division. Trial Attorney Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Assistant US Attorney Logan Liles for the Eastern District of North Carolina are leading the prosecution.
Authorities stressed that an indictment remains an allegation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana