Key points
- Asif William was arrested last year in Cambodia and later taken to Guam
- 34-year-old ex-analyst pleaded guilty before a federal court in Virginia
- Faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison
ISLAMABAD: A former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst pleaded guilty Friday to leaking information on a planned Israeli attack on Iran.
According to US state media network VOA, Asif William Rahman, 34, of Vienna, Virginia, pleaded guilty before a federal court in Virginia.
He was arrested last year in Cambodia and later taken to Guam.
The accused may face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each of the two charges including retention and transmission of classified information related to the national defence.
Career at CIA
Rahman had worked for the intelligence agency since 2016 and had a top-secret security clearance.
Prosecutors said Rahman illegally downloaded and printed classified documents at work and then took the documents home, where he altered the items to cover up the source of the information before distributing it.
VOA reported that the secret information was eventually published on the Telegram social media platform.
US Justice Department
A Justice Department statement said that beginning in the spring of 2024 and lasting until November, Rahman shared the “top-secret information” he learned at his job with “multiple individuals he knew were not entitled to receive it.”
“Government employees who are granted security clearances and given access to our nation’s classified information must promise to protect it,” Robert Wells, executive assistant director of the FBI’s National Security Branch, said Friday in a statement.
Wells said, “Rahman blatantly violated that pledge and took multiple steps to hide his actions. The FBI Angelina Jolie Withdraws Lawsuit Against FBI in Brad Pitt Abuse Casewill use all our resources to investigate and hold accountable those who illegally transmit classified information and endanger the national security interests of our country.”
Government employees who are granted security clearances and given access to our nation’s classified information must promise to protect it.” – FBI official Robert Wells
He also said government employees who are granted security clearances and given access to our nation’s classified information must promise to protect it.
The Justice Department said Rahman destroyed journal entries and written work products on his personal electronic devices “to conceal his personal opinions on US policy and drafted entries to construct a false narrative regarding his activity.”
