June 12 (UPI) -- A former CIA analyst has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for obtaining and sending top secret Defense Department information to unauthorized recipients who then posted it on social media, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
Asif William Rahman, 34, of Vienna, had been a CIA employee since 2016 with a top secret security clearance and had access to sensitive information until his termination, a release from the Justice Department said.
"For months, this defendant betrayed the American people and the oaths he took upon entering his office by leaking some of our nation's most closely held secrets," John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, said. "As this case demonstrates, the Department of Justice will continue to protect our nation by vigorously investigating and prosecuting leakers who compromise our nation's security."
Court documents show that Rahman accessed and printed two top secret documents about a foreign ally and its plans against a foreign adversary.
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"Rahman removed the documents, photographed them, and transmitted them to individuals he knew were not entitled to receive them," the Justice Department release said. "By Oct. 18, 2024, the documents appeared publicly on multiple social media platforms, complete with the classification markings."
Court records show Rahman continued to access and share top secret information with unauthorized recipients until early November 2024.
He then began a "deletion campaign" of work saved on his top secret workstation.
Rahman was indicted by a grand jury on Nov. 7, 2024, and was arrested by FBI agents while arriving at work five days later. He pleaded guilty to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to national defense. He has remained in custody since his arrest.
