Nearly a month ago highly classified US intelligence detailing Israeli plans for a retaliation attack against Iran appeared online. The pair of documents were prepared by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the leak immediately kicked off a massive federal investigation and hunt for the leaker.
On Wednesday federal prosecutors have revealed an arrest, with the NY Times reporting that "The man, Asif W. Rahman, was indicted last week in federal court in Virginia with two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information." He had worked for the US government overseas, and is being charged with two counts of violating the Espionage Act. The Times has followed with an update identifying him as a CIA official.
Rahman was apprehended by the FBI in Cambodia on Tuesday, and has been brought to federal court in Guam where he'll get charged in the case.
"Court documents said Mr. Rahman held a top secret security clearance with access to sensitive compartmentalized information, which is typical for many C.I.A. employees who handle classified materials.," the Times continues.
It also remains unclear what he was doing in Cambodia at the time of this arrest - whether on the run or perhaps merely traveling abroad, or possibly for work.
The FBI previously said it was "working closely with our partners in the Department of Defense and intelligence community" to track down the leaker. From the start, federal investigators made clear that they believed it to be the result of an intelligence insider, and not the result of a foreign hacking operation.
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| Image source: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency |
More than a week after the leaks first appeared Israeli media indicated that national decision-makers had delayed the timing of the planned retaliatory attack on Iran due to the leak incident, given one of the docs detailed Israeli placements and movements of missiles and defensive assets.
"Israel is concerned the leak could help Iran predict certain patterns of attack," The Times had written. "It has been forced to develop an alternative plan, one that requires detailed war gaming before any order is given, The Times understands."
"The leak of the American documents delayed the attack due to the need to change certain strategies and components," an intelligence source described as having knowledge of Israeli deliberations said.
Additionally there appeared in the leaks confirmation of Israel's highly secretive nuclear weapons program, which on an official level it is not supposed to have.
Oh dear. Did someone at NGA leak Top Secret TALENT KEYHOLE FIVE EYES NO FOREIGN EYES intelligence about Israel's nuclear weapons...on Twitter? pic.twitter.com/3lyKWFCmUw
— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) October 20, 2024
The pair of documents were classified TOP SECRET, with both marked NOFORN - which is among the highest classifications - given it indicates the specific intelligence cannot be shared with allied foreign intelligence agencies. But markings indicated they could be shared only among "Five Eyes" allies: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The investigation to find the leaker focused heavily on these Five Eyes allies, but the NY Times report is saying that the leak occurred in-house, via a US government employee of the Central Intelligence Agency.
