Air Force employee accused of sharing highly classified information on dating app

U.S. Air Force civilian employee arrested and charged for leaking highly classified military information dating appsaccording to the announcement U.S. Department of Justice on Monday. It’s clear from the indictment that whoever this man was talking to knew what she was after.

David Franklin Slater, 63, of Nebraska, was arrested on March 2 and charged with transmitting classified material. Slater, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who held a top-secret security clearance, worked at U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base until his arrest on Saturday.

The indictment alleges that Slater was using an unnamed foreign dating website to provide an unnamed woman with extremely sensitive information about the war in Ukraine. Russia first invaded Ukraine in late February 2022, and the information cited in the indictment began on March 7 of that year, less than a month before the conflict began.The war took away people’s lives thousands Both sides have been at loggerheads for the past two years with no end in sight.

The messages Slater received from the unnamed woman were filled with loving words and indicated she claimed to be from Ukraine. But they also expose the fact that whoever Slater actually spoke to made it clear he wanted secret information by using small talk that included specific requests for details, such as:

  • “The U.S. intelligence agency said that Russian troops are 100% stationed in Ukraine. Do you think this news is credible?”
  • “Honey, what’s on the screen in the special room?? This is interesting.”
  • “By the way, you were the first to tell me that NATO members were traveling by train, and only now (already evening) our news announced this. You are my secret intelligence lover! Your meeting How did it go? Successfully?”
  • “Dear Dave, do NATO and Biden have a secret plan to help us?”

U.S. prosecutors have redacted some of the information to avoid naming specific countries:

  • “Dave, I’m glad you got some information on [Specified Country 1] First. I want you to tell me right away? You are my secret agent. with love. “
  • “Dear Dave, the supply of weapons is completely confidential, that’s great!”
  • “My dear Dave, thank you for your valuable information and it is a pleasure to have two U.S. officials traveling to Kiev.”
  • “Dave, I hope NATO has a very unpleasant ‘surprise’ in store for Putin tomorrow! Can you tell me?
  • “You work in the operations center today. I remember there must be a lot of interesting news there, right?”

Slater responded to the romantic messages with classified information, including Russian military targets, according to prosecutors. The indictment says Slater responded via email and dating sites between February and April 2022.

As an ally of Ukraine, the U.S. military has been providing weapons and intelligence assistance to the country, and some of that information has been leaked in embarrassing ways — including that of 21-year-old pilot Jack Teixeira, allegedly on Discord Publish secret information to impress his friends. 2022.Teixeira was arrested in 2023 and is expected to plead guilty this week.

“Individuals with access to top-secret information must bear certain responsibilities. The charges against Mr. Slater question whether he betrayed these responsibilities. Publish online.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations to ensure the security of our nation,” Lyle continued.

According to reports, Slater will make his first court appearance on Tuesday and faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count. Prosecutor.

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