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Russia Today
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Retired US officer shared classified Ukraine intel on dating site
A retired US Army officer has admitted to leaking classified information about the Ukraine conflict to a woman he met on a foreign dating website, according to a press release by the US Justice Department last week. David Slater, 64, was working as a civilian employee for the Air Force at US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) when he is said to have conspired to transmit national defense information. The leaks occurred from February to April 2022, during the early stages of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. USSTRATCOM is responsible for overseeing the country's nuclear command and control systems. Slater held a top secret security clearance and worked in a classified space at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. He attended briefings that included intelligence classified up to top secret. Prosecutors said he later shared information from those briefings with a person who claimed to be a Ukrainian woman. The two communicated using a messaging feature on an unnamed foreign dating platform. According to court filings, the woman regularly prompted Slater to reveal sensitive details and referred to him with phrases such as 'my secret informant love' and 'my secret agent.' In one message, she asked, 'Dear, what is shown on the screens in the special room??' Prosecutors said the information he disclosed included military targets, Russian military capabilities, and US and NATO planning. The identity of the woman has not been made public and it's unclear whether she was working for a foreign government. US Attorney Lesley Woods said Slater 'failed in his duty' to protect classified information. FBI Special Agent Eugene Kowel said the officer 'betrayed an oath' to safeguard national intelligence. Slater faces up to ten years in prison for the leaks, but could serve a fraction of this under a plea agreement. His sentencing is set for October 8. The case follows a similar breach in 2023 involving Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, who admitted to posting highly classified documents on Discord, including battlefield maps and intelligence assessments about the Ukraine conflict.
Daily Mail
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Army officer admits sharing classified intel on dating app
A retired Army lieutenant colonel has confessed to leaking top secret information about the war between Russia and Ukraine on a foreign dating app. David Franklin Slater, 64, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sharing classified details about national defense on a foreign dating platform on Thursday, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Slater retired from the Army in 2020 and went on to work as a civilian employee for the Air Force in Nebraska from August 2021 to April 2022. He was specifically hired by US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) - a defense force tasked with protecting America's nuclear weapons and preventing foreign attacks. During his STRATCOM stint at Offutt Air Force Base, Slater held a Top Secret security clearance and attended sensitive briefings on the war Russia waged on Ukraine . Based on Slater's social media presence, he apparently had an affinity for Russian and Ukrainian women . When reviewed his Facebook likes last year, his feed was flooded with photos of women from Eastern Europe. Slater had met and communicated with this partner in crime over a dating app. During their unlawful exchanges, she referred to him as her 'secret love informant' and her 'secret agent.' His international lover showed a keen interest in how the war was progressing and what any future plans might be, according to court documents. The woman regularly requested sensitive, non-public, closely held, and classified NDI, which had been labeled as 'SECRET.' She inquired about military operations specifically at least nine times, authorities said. 'American Intelligence says that already 100 percent of Russian troops are located on the territory of Ukraine. Do you think this information can be trusted?' the woman once asked. A few days later, she asked specifics about data shown in one of the offices. 'Dear, what is shown on the screens in the special room?? It is very interesting,' she wrote. 'By the way, you were the first to tell me that NATO members are traveling by train and only now (already evening) this was announced on our news. You are my secret informant love! How were your meetings? Successfully?' He was finally arrested on March 2, 2024. No further information about the identity of who was on the other side of Slater's screen has been released. 'Certain responsibilities are incumbent to individuals with access to Top Secret information,' US Attorney Susan Lehr for the District of Nebraska said at the time. 'The allegations against Mr. Slater challenge whether he betrayed those responsibilities.' He had originally pleaded not guilty to all three charges of illegally disclosing national defense information and conspiracy. But on Thursday, he had entered a plea deal with the federal Omaha judge, in which he pleaded guilty to just one count and the two others were dropped. 'Mr. Slater betrayed an oath he made to safeguard our nation's intelligence,' Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel of the FBI Omaha Field Office said. 'Leveraging his access to sensitive information, Mr. Slater chose to transmit material that put our country at risk.' Slater remains a free man until his sentencing, which is scheduled for October 8. His conspiracy to transmit national defense information charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. 'Access to classified information comes with great responsibility,' US Attorney Lesley Woods for the District of Nebraska said. 'David Slater failed in his duty to protect this information by willingly sharing National Defense Information with an unknown online personality despite having years of military experience that should have caused him to be suspicious of that person's motives.'
Washington Post
14-07-2025
- Washington Post
Retired Army officer pleads guilty to sharing classified info on Russia-Ukraine war on dating site
A retired Army officer who worked as a civilian for the Air Force has pleaded guilty to conspiring to transmit classified information about Russia's war with Ukraine on a foreign online dating platform. David Slater, 64, who had top secret clearance at his job at the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, pleaded guilty to a single count before a federal magistrate judge in Omaha on Thursday. In exchange for his guilty plea, two other counts were dropped.
Associated Press
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Retired Army officer pleads guilty to sharing classified info on Russia-Ukraine war on dating site
A retired Army officer who worked as a civilian for the Air Force has pleaded guilty to conspiring to transmit classified information about Russia's war with Ukraine on a foreign online dating platform. David Slater, 64, who had top secret clearance at his job at the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, pleaded guilty to a single count before a federal magistrate judge in Omaha on Thursday. In exchange for his guilty plea, two other counts were dropped. Slater remains free pending his sentencing, which is scheduled for Oct. 8. Prosecutors and his lawyers agreed that he should serve between five years and 10 months and seven years and three months in prison, and the government will recommend a term at the low end of that range. The charge carries a statutory maximum of 10 years behind bars. U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher will ultimately decide whether to accept the plea agreement and will determine Slater's sentence. 'I conspired to willfully communicate national defense information to an unauthorized person,' Slater said in a handwritten note on his petition to change his plea. Slater had access to some of the country's most closely held secrets, John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement. 'Access to classified information comes with great responsibility,' said Lesley Woods, the U.S. attorney for Nebraska, said in the same statement. 'David Slater failed in his duty to protect this information by willingly sharing National Defense Information with an unknown online personality despite having years of military experience that should have caused him to be suspicious of that person's motives.' Slater retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 2020 and worked in a classified space at the base from around August 2021 until around April 2022. He attended briefings about the Russia-Ukraine war that were classified up to top secret, court documents say. He was arrested in March of 2024. In his plea agreement, he acknowledged that he conspired to transmit classified information that he learned from those briefings via the foreign dating website's messaging platform to an unnamed coconspirator, who claimed to be a woman living in Ukraine. The information, classified as secret, pertained to military targets and Russian military capabilities, according to the plea agreement. 'Defendant knew and had reason to believe that such information could be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation,' the agreement states. According to the original indictment, the coconspirator regularly asked Slater for classified information. She called him, 'my secret informant love!' in one message. She closed another by saying, 'You are my secret agent. With love.' In another, she wrote, 'Dave, I hope tomorrow NATO will prepare a very pleasant 'surprise' for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin! Will you tell me?' Court documents don't identify the coconspirator, or say whether she was working for Ukraine or Russia. They also don't identify the dating platform. Amy Donato, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office in Omaha, said Monday that she couldn't provide that information. Slater's attorney, Stuart Dornan, didn't immediately return a call seeking further details.
