US Department of Justice.
The FBI arrested Ian Brinksman, 42, after searching his home in Washington, according to Reuters.
“As alleged, Brinksman reached far outside his own duties to obtain some of our Nation’s most closely held secrets and handed them to a romantic partner he knew intended to publish them,” John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a Justice Department statement. Brinksman held a top-secret security clearance while working for a US government agency and later as a systems integration developer for a private contractor working with the same agency, prosecutors said. He previously worked at Deloitte as a manager and senior strategy security consultant after serving as a US State Department foreign service officer, according to a LinkedIn profile bearing Brinksman’s name. The partner later published material online, the US Department of Justice said. Earlier reporting noted: According to the complaint, Brinksman held a Top Secret security clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access while working for a US government agency and later as a contractor supporting the same agency.
He has been charged with unlawfully transmitting national defence information. A federal public defender representing Brinksman declined to comment.
Earlier reporting noted: FBI arrests Ian Brinksman, government contractor accused of leaking classified defense information to lover The FBI arrested Ian A. Earlier reporting noted: The charges alleged that he used his position of trust and access to sensitive government systems to obtain and share classified material. The US Justice Department on Friday accused a government contractor of leaking classified national defence information to his girlfriend, a journalist who publishes a Substack newsletter. Brinksman, a Washington, DC-based government contractor, on Friday for allegedly transmitting classified national defense information to a romantic partner.