CIA Analyst With Top Secret Clearance Gets 3-Year Sentence

Newsweek

a day ago

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Asif William Rahman, a former CIA analyst, was sentenced to 37 months in prison for unlawfully transmitting and retaining top secret U.S. national defense information.
Rahman, 34, pleaded guilty in federal court to leaking documents that detailed Israeli military preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran, a press release from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) said Wednesday.
"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 in the release.
Rahman had been employed by the CIA since 2016 and held a top-secret clearance until his arrest in November 2024, according to the release.
Why It Matters
Leaked intelligence revealed details of a critical allied operation—an Israeli strike on Iran—and was disseminated at a time of heightened Middle East tensions.
U.S. officials said the leak risked both allied operations and the integrity of U.S. intelligence collection, with broader implications for foreign relations and American lives.
The incident raised concerns about insider threats within the intelligence community and the challenges of restricting dissemination of sensitive information in the digital age.
The U.S. DOJ, FBI, and national security officials highlighted the importance of deterrence regarding unauthorized disclosures of national defense information.
What To Know
On October 17, 2024, Rahman accessed and printed two top secret documents regarding "a U.S. foreign ally and its planned kinetic actions against a foreign adversary," the release said.
He photographed the documents, edited the images to conceal their source, and transmitted them to unauthorized recipients. By October 18, 2024, the documents appeared on multiple social media platforms, including the Telegram app, according to a report from the Associate Press (AP).
The leaked documents, which carried top secret markings, described Israeli aviation exercises and military movements in anticipation of a retaliatory strike on Iran.
"By stealing and divulging classified information and then attempting to conceal his crimes, Asif Rahman not only violated the law; he also betrayed his oath as a government employee and his responsibility to the American people," Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division said in the DOJ press release.
This image provided by the Guam Department of Corrections shows Asif William Rahman, who worked for the U.S. government, was arrested by the FBI in Cambodia, and now is charged with leaking classified information assessing...
This image provided by the Guam Department of Corrections shows Asif William Rahman, who worked for the U.S. government, was arrested by the FBI in Cambodia, and now is charged with leaking classified information assessing Israel's earlier plans to attack Iran, Nov 14, 2024. More
Guam Department of Corrections via AP
The documents had originally been attributed to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency. Israeli officials later delayed the planned attack after the documents became public, The Washington Post reported.
Rahman pleaded guilty on January 17 to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified national defense information in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.
The guilty plea came after a grand jury indictment on November 7, 2024, and his arrest by the FBI at work just days later on November 12. The Justice Department said he has been in custody since his arrest.
Court documents showed Rahman engaged in deleting work products from his classified workstation and destroyed multiple electronic devices, including a mobile phone and an Internet router that had been used to transmit the classified information. He also shredded the original printed documents after photographing them, the release said.
Rahman, a Yale University graduate, had worked for the CIA since 2016 and lived in Vienna, Virginia, at the time of his arrest. Defense records described him as a high school valedictorian who graduated from Yale in three years.
What People Are Saying
Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia said in the DOJ press release: "The urgency with which Mr. Rahman was identified, arrested, charged, and prosecuted is a testament to the commitment and professionalism of the investigators and prosecutors who brought him to justice. This case should serve as a stern warning to those who choose to place their own goals over their allegiance to our nation."
Roman Rozhavsky, Assistant Director, FBI Counterintelligence Division said in the press release: "Let this be a warning to all clearance holders: The FBI will exhaust all avenues to find and bring to justice anyone — no matter who they are — who endangers our nation by disclosing sensitive information without authorization."
What Happens Next
Rahman is set to serve his 37-month prison sentence imposed by the federal court.
The DOJ will continue to investigate and prosecute security breaches in the U.S. intelligence community, signaling continued vigilance against unauthorized disclosures of classified information.