Henry Kyle Frese, Classified Information Leak, Virginia 2018

In a shocking turn of events, a former employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has pleaded guilty to leaking classified national defense information to two journalists in 2018 and 2019. Henry Kyle Frese, 31, of Alexandria, Virginia, was employed by DIA as a counterterrorism analyst from February 2018 to October 2019 and held a Top Secret//Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance.

According to court documents, Frese disclosed classified national defense information (NDI) to two journalists. The information related to the capabilities of certain foreign countries' weapons systems and was contained in five intelligence reports made available to appropriately cleared recipients in the first half of 2018.

Frese violated the trust placed in him by the American people when he disclosed sensitive national security information for personal gain, said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. He alerted our country's adversaries to sensitive national defense information, putting the nation's security at risk.

Frese's actions were a clear reminder to all those entrusted with National Defense Information that unilaterally disclosing such information for personal gain or that of others is not selfless or heroic, it is criminal, said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Frese pleaded guilty to charges related to his disclosure of classified national defense information. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information. Sentencing is scheduled for a later date.

The U.S. Government and the American public depend on trusted government employees to keep such information out of the hands of our adversaries, who could use it to cause us harm, said Timothy R. Slater, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office.

The FBI's counterintelligence mission is to protect our country's information and secrets in order to safeguard our future; and the men and women of the FBI will continue to work hard to preserve that information.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/former-dia-employee-pleads-guilty-leaking-classified-information-journalists