WASHINGTON (AP) — A retired Army lieutenant colonel was arrested Saturday and charged with illegally leaking sensitive national defense data to a foreign dating site, according to indictment documents.
David Franklin Slater, 63, who most recently worked as an Air Force civilian worker assigned to U. S. Strategic Command, was a member of the U. S. Air Force Command. The U. S. Department of Homeland Security (USSTRATCOM) allegedly contacted an anonymous user claiming to be a woman living in Ukraine and sent her secret Pentagon documents about Russia’s war in that country, according to court documents.
STRATCOM is the command of the U. S. Army. Guilty of nuclear deterrence, nuclear command and is headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. While working at STRATCOM, Slater had a top-secret security clearance, according to the documents, and had obtained education in proper driving. of sensitive government information.
“There are certain day-to-day jobs that fall to other people with very sensible secret information. The allegations against Mr. Slater call into question whether he betrayed those day jobs,” said U. S. Attorney Susan Lehr for the District of Nebraska.
After retiring from the military in 2020, prosecutors said Slater began applying for STRATCOM in August 2021, where he attended top-secret briefings about the war in Ukraine. STRATCOM has shown that it will be hired in its Logistics Department until 2022.
Slater and the anonymous individual discussed the war via email and an online messaging platform, according to court documents. He was questioned about his access to national defense information, prosecutors said.
“My dear, what is shown on the screens in the special room?It’s very interesting,” reads a March 2022 message to Slater. “Dear Dave, do NATO and Biden have a secret plan for us?” the user asked in another message.
Court documents said the user Slater was communicating with called him “my secret informant” and suggested he pass on more sensitive information.
“Dave, it’s wonderful that you’re getting data on [Specified Country 1] first. I hope you’ll tell me right now. You’re my secret agent. With love,” one message read.
“My dear Dave, thank you for this valuable information. It is wonderful that two U. S. officials are traveling to Kyiv,” reads an April 14, 2022, message.
Prosecutors say that in reaction to those requests, Slater provided sensitive information, adding important points classified by the U. S. intelligence community. Such information, if disclosed, “could cause serious harm to national security that the initial classification authority was able to identify and describe,” according to the indictment.
His civilian work in the Air Force began in April 2022.
The charges against Slater came hours after a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard admitted to violating the Espionage Act by posting highly classified documents, some related to the war in Ukraine, on a gaming platform.
Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty Monday to six counts of unlawful possession and transmission of national defense in federal court in Boston and faces up to 16 years in prison.
For his part, Slater faces one count of conspiracy and two counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information. He is expected to make his first court appearance Tuesday in a Nebraska court and has still been arraigned in court.
It’s possible that Slater’s attorney simply isn’t identified.