CIA Employee Pleads Guilty to Leaking Classified Information on Israel's Military Plans

Asif William Rahman, a 34-year-old CIA employee from Vienna, Virginia, has entered a guilty plea to criminal charges related to the unauthorized retention and dissemination of classified national defense information. The U.S. Department of Justice reported that Rahman, who has been with the agency since 2016, admitted to multiple instances of illegally accessing, printing, and distributing sensitive information throughout 2024.

Court documents reveal that in the spring of 2024, Rahman improperly printed five secret and top secret documents from his work computer, which he took home. There, he altered these documents and distributed them to individuals who were not authorized to receive such information. To conceal his actions, he erased evidence of these activities from his electronic devices and later returned the records to his workplace, where he had them destroyed.

Later in the autumn of 2024, Rahman printed an additional ten top secret documents, again taking them home to share with others. One significant incident occurred on October 17, 2024, when he printed two additional documents involving plans from a U.S. ally regarding military action against an adversary. These specific documents, outlining Israel's intentions to strike Iran, were subsequently published online by a pro-Iranian Telegram account named "Middle East Spectator." Rahman was arrested in Cambodia, and he is set to be sentenced on May 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.