Dont ComplyFormer Fort Bragg Contractor Indicted for Allegedly Leaking Defense Information and Stealing Night Vision Goggles
The Justice Department says a former contractor at U.S. Army Special Operations Command was arrested and indicted for allegedly leaking national defense information and stealing government property.
According to a U.S. Department of Justice press release, James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, of Spring Lake, North Carolina, was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday on an indictment unsealed that day. Prosecutors allege he worked from about 2021 for a private company providing security and emergency management services at the U.S. Army Special Operations Command facility at Fort Bragg, holding a Top Secret clearance with SCI access. The indictment alleges he photographed and removed videos and images of classified military operations and posted them to a social media site, where other users re-posted them. It also alleges a search of his home found a classified award write-up and a missing night vision goggle system. He is charged with unlawfully transmitting and retaining national defense information and theft of government property. The release reports no response from Ashbacher and notes an indictment is merely an allegation.
Why it matters
The allegations involve the handling of classified information by a contractor with high-level clearance and the loss of military equipment. The case will test whether safeguards on sensitive operational material and government property were violated.
These are unproven claims, and everyone named is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Researched with AI assistance from the sources listed here and reviewed under our methodology.
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