Intelligence Employee Leaked Top Secret Information to Reporter With Whom He Was Romantically Involved, Feds Say

An employee for the Defense Intelligence Agency was arrested Wednesday on accusations that he disclosed classified information to two journalists, one of whom he had a romantic relationship with, the Justice Department said.

Henry Kyle Frese, 30, of Alexandria, was charged with two counts of willful transmission of national defense information, each carrying a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.

Federal prosecutors say Frese, whose government security clearance allowed him access to top secret and sensitive information, accessed multiple classified intelligence reports and leaked information about a foreign country’s weapons systems to a journalist. Authorities say some of the reports Frese accessed were unrelated to his job duties.

“Frese was caught red-handed disclosing sensitive national security information for personal gain,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in a statement. “Frese betrayed the trust placed in him by the American people – a betrayal that risked harming the national security of this country.”

DOJ Busts Massive International Sham Marriage Scheme, 1,000 Weddings to ‘Fraudulently Obtain Immigration Status’

FBI ran secret operation to extinguish Biden family foreign influence scandal: Declassified documents

Fox News Poll: New matchup, same result: Maine Senate race stays locked

Here’s who could replace White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt

New York Social Services Worker Charged With Issuing Multiple Benefit Cards to Herself

Hasan Piker cheers Mamdani aide going ‘beast mode’ with ‘impoverish the White middle-class’ remark

Deadly military helicopter crash in Texas kills 2, sparks wildfire and forces evacuations: officials

DOJ makes first arrest in Southern Poverty Law Center fraud case

Alex Murdaugh’s ‘Charleston or bust’ prayer shot down by prosecutors in fight over ‘Holy City’ retrial

Trump says Karoline Leavitt will leave White House press secretary role, become outside advisor

Former SPLC official arrested as feds expand case over alleged $4M scheme involving extremist groups

Former SPLC Exec Arrested on Fraud Charges Connected to KKK Relationship

DOJ charges 11 in alleged decadelong sham marriage scheme involving Chinese nationals

Report: Russia Is Giving China ‘Incredibly Important’ Military Technology to Use Against US

Trump’s dead ‘anti-weaponization fund’ comes back to life in Georgia Senate race

The unauthorized disclosures to the two reporters happened in 2018 and 2019. Prior to that, from August 2017 to August 2018, Frese and one of the reporters lived together and appeared to have been involved in a romantic relationship, authorities say. They did not name the two journalists involved and did not say what their media affiliations were.

In April 2018, after Frese accessed one of the intelligence reports, the journalist asked if he’d be willing to speak with another reporter, prosecutors say. Frese then said he was “down” to help the second journalist — a colleague at an affiliated but different news outlet, authorities say.

The journalist whom authorities believe had a relationship with Frese published six articles related to information that Frese leaked, authorities say.

Federal authorities said Frese was “captured” last month on court-authorized surveillance of his cell phone orally transmitting classified national defense information to the second journalist

“Henry Kyle Frese was entrusted with top secret information related to the national defense of our country,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney in Alexandria, Va. “Frese allegedly violated that trust, the oath he swore to uphold, and is charged with engaging in dastardly and felonious conduct at the expense of our country. This indictment should serve as a clear reminder to all of those similarly entrusted with National Defense Information that unilaterally disclosing such information for personal gain, or that of others, is not selfless or heroic, it is criminal.”