A Department of Defense contract linguist was charged Wednesday with turning over the names of confidential U.S. intelligence assets to a Lebanese national with ties to Hezbollah.
Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, of Rochester, Minnesota, is accused of passing along 57 files containing the real names, background information, personal identification data and photographs of eight American intelligence sources. She is also alleged to have provided cables containing information the sources told the U.S. government.
Ms. Thompson is charged with transmitting highly sensitive classified national defense information to a foreign national. She was arrested last week and is set to appear in court Wednesday
“If true, this conduct is a disgrace, especially for someone serving as a contractor with the United States military. This betrayal of country and colleagues will be punished,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers.
Prosecutors say between late December 2019 and February 2020, Ms. Thompson repeatedly accessed dozens of secret files that she did not need to view.
A search of her living quarters turned up a handwritten note in Arabic under the mattress. The note states the human assets were collecting information and their phones should be monitored.
“The note contained national defense information classified at the secret level, meaning its unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to national security,” an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit filed Wednesday.
Upon questioning by the FBI, Ms. Thompson admitted that she passed along the information because she had a romantic interest in the Lebanese national, located outside the United States, according to the affidavit.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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