FBI Arrests Former North Carolina Army Contractor Accused of Posting Classified Information on Social Media
The FBI has arrested a former government contractor in North Carolina accused of leaking classified national defence information on social media.
The arrested man is James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, of Spring Lake, North Carolina. Authorities say he shared top-secret safety data online and stole night-vision goggles.
Prosecutors said Ashbacher faces federal counts of unauthorised transmission of national defence information, unlawful retention of defence records and theft of government property.
According to a US Department of Justice press release, Ashbacher photographed and removed without authorisation videos and photographs containing images of classified military operations and transmitted the materials to a social media site. The classified materials were later re-posted by other users to a second social media site.
The statement further alleges that, in a private direct message, Ashbacher urged a social media user to take down several uploaded materials, explaining that he was "trying to do some damage control".
Federal agents searching his home later found a classified military award nomination containing sensitive national defence information, as well as a specialised night-vision goggle system that had previously been reported missing from a US Army special operations command unit.
Ashbacher worked for a contractor providing security and emergency management services to the US Army at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where he held a top secret clearance with sensitive compartmented information (SCI) access.
The case is being investigated by the FBI's Charlotte field office in coordination with the US Department of the Army's criminal investigation division.
Ashbacher's arrest came nearly two years after a federal judge sentenced Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia's war in Ukraine. Teixeira admitted he had illegally collected those secrets and shared them with other users on Discord.
