US IT specialist willing to share classified info with foreigners arrested: DOJ | Fox News
By: Elizabeth Pritchett (Fox News)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
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A government employee in Virginia was arrested on Thursday and accused of attempting to share classified information with an officer or agent of a foreign government, the Department of Justice announced.
Nathan Laatsch, a 28-year-old IT specialist employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency since 2019, was arrested after the FBI received a tip in March 2025 that someone was willing to provide classified information to a friendly foreign government.
Laatsch was a civilian employee in the DIA's Insider Threat Division and held a top secret security clearance, according to the DOJ.
An email to the FBI said that the person - later identified as Laatsch - didn't "agree or align with the values" of the Trump administration, and would be willing to share classified information that he could access, including "completed intelligence products, some unprocessed intelligence, and other assorted classified documentation."
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CONTRACTOR CHARGED AFTER PRINTING TOP SECRET DOCUMENTS, TRYING TO LEAVE WITH THEM TO MEXICO
An IT specialist in northern Virginia is behind bars after an FBI agent caught him sharing classified information with who he believed was a foreign government official.(iStock)
Laatsch communicated with an FBI agent, whom he believed to be a foreign government official, multiple times and would confirm that he was ready to share classified information that he transcribed onto a notepad at his desk, the DOJ said. He allegedly exfiltrated the information from his workspace multiple times over a three-day period in preparation.
The FBI set up an operation at a northern Virginia park where Laatsch was to deposit classified information "for the foreign government to retrieve," according to the DOJ. He was observed by the FBI on or around May 1 depositing an item at the specified location.
Once he left, the DOJ said FBI agents retrieved a thumb drive from the area found to contain a message from Laatsch and multiple typed documents with information portion-marked for Secret or Top Secret levels. His message allegedly indicated that he was sharing "a decent sample size" of classified information to demonstrate the types of things he has access to.
The Department of Justice said Nathan Laatsch, 28, was arrested after he attempted to share classified information with a foreign government because he allegedly did not "agree or align" with the Trump admin's values.(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
SUSPECT CHARGED IN LEAK OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS ON ISRAEL'S PREPARATIONS FOR POSSIBLE IRAN STRIKE
On May 7, after Laatsch learned that the thumb drive had been retrieved, he allegedly sent a message to the undercover agent appearing to say that he was seeking something in exchange for providing the information.
The following day, he specified that he was interested in "citizenship for your country" because he didn't expect things in America "to improve in the long term," the DOJ said. He also allegedly said he was "not opposed to other compensation," but not in a place where he needed "material compensation."
Laatsch was told on May 14 by the FBI agent that the "foreign government" was ready for additional classified information. Between May 15 and May 27, he transcribed more information and began to remove it from the building by folding the notes and hiding them in his clothing.
Laatsch was unknowingly communicating with an FBI agent when he was agreeing to share classified information, according to the DOJ.(iStock)
On Thursday, Laatsch arrived at a prearranged location in northern Virginia to drop the information off to the "foreign country." He was arrested once the FBI received the documents.
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His first court appearance is scheduled for Friday in the Eastern District of Virginia.
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Just another liberal piece of shit who suffers from TDS selling out America because of trump, surprised this is even news anymore.
Betraying your country because you don't like Trump. Not too surprising.
Remember, it goes both ways.
And there they stayed until the "GovCo show me the man and I'll give you the crime" crew confiscated it. Not both ways. This guy was handing documents over. Not the same, but nice deflection try.
Is that Biden's garage?
Yup, there they stayed in an unlocked bathroom (among other locations) accessible by anyone at Mar-A-Lago. Not to mention moved there by people that had not been cleared to handle classified information.
It's cute watching you confuse Biden's mishandling of classified materials with Trump. Kind of like watching a wound up toddler tell a story.
And how do you know that anyone could peruse the boxes without being caught? At least it wasn't a garage in the wide open expanse of the structure and contained in a small room used for other shit.........literally
And I am sure their main thrust was to look over that stuff while they stacked the boxes../S.......and not "This is grunt work. Let's get done and out of here."
So you think Mar-A-Lago may have cameras located in their bathrooms to catch people trying to get at the classified documents???
Why don't you address what I said? Those "grunts" did not have proper clearance to even see the documents, let alone handle them.
Prove it, you made this claim now back it up.
Do you not get the news in your country?
Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (classified documents case)
So deflection aside, your ignorant comment says nothing about the security clearance about the grunts who moved it so we will just go with you doubling down on a lying comment you can’t prove.
Wow, just wow. In your mind the janitor at Mar-A-Lago has been granted security clearance for top secret and above documents? A Trump employee told the FBI that the former president ordered staff to move boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago
And yet you don't prove me wrong. Why is that?
You still have zero clue as your ignorant comments prove, who moved them to Maro Lago and who said a Janitor moved them, you are just doubling down on your lies. prove they didn't have a clearance, you made the claim it's up to you to prove it.
Maybe he thought since Clinton and Biden got away with it he would to.