The DOJ has announced that a government employee was arrested on Thursday for trying to share classified information with agents of a foreign government because he did not “agree or align with the values” of the Trump administration.
Nathan Vilas Laatsch, a 28-year-old IT specialist working for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) since 2019, was arrested this week in Virginia, the DOJ announced. Laatsch works for the DIA’s Insider Threat Division, where he holds a Top Secret security clearance.
Court documents reveal Laatsch allegedly sent an email to a to an officer or agent of a foreign government, saying he did not “agree or align with the values” of the Trump administration and was therefore “willing to share classified information,” including “completed intelligence products, some unprocessed intelligence, and other assorted classified documentation,” the DOJ said.
In March, the FBI received a tip regarding the email and began communicating with the 28-year-old, posing as a foreign government official.
Laatsch then began transcribing classified information to a notepad at his desk, repeatedly exfiltrated the information from his workspace over a three-day period, before confirming to the FBI agent — whom he believed to be a foreign government official — that he was ready to transmit the information, the DOJ claimed.
After that, the FBI set up an operation at a public park in northern Virginia, “where Laatsch believed he would deposit the classified information for the foreign government to retrieve,” the DOJ added. Then, on or around May 1, the DOJ said Laatsch was seen depositing an item at the specified location, which was retrieved by FBI agents after he left.
The item was a thumb drive containing a message from the 28-year-old DIA employee and multiple typed documents with information portion-marked for Secret or Top Secret levels.
The FBI posing as a foreign government official had also received a message from Laatsch indicting that he was sharing “a decent sample size” of classified information to “demonstrate the range” of the types of material he had access to, the DOJ said.
About a week later, after Laatsch received confirmation that the thumb drive had been successfully picked up by who he apparently believed was a foreign government official, the 28-year-old allegedly sent a message to the undercover FBI agent suggesting he wanted something in return from the foreign government if he were to continue handing over classified information.
On May 8, Laatsch specified that he was interested in “citizenship for your country,” because he did not expect “things” in the United States “to improve in the long term,” the DOJ said.
Laatsch also allegedly stated that he was “not opposed to other compensation,” but added that he was not in a place where he needed “material compensation.”
On May 14, the undercover FBI agent told Laatsch that the foreign government was ready to receive more classified information. The DIA employee the began repeatedly transcribed multiple pages of notes while logged into his classified workstation between May 15 and May 27, the DOJ said.
Laatsch then took the information from the building by folding the notes and concealing them in his clothing, the Department of Justice added.
On Thursday, Laatsch arrived at a prearranged location in northern Virginia, where he allegedly tried to drop off classified information for a second time “to the foreign country,” the DOJ revealed.
He was arrested that same day, once the FBI received the classified documents.
Laatsch is set to make his first court appearance in the Eastern District of Virginia on Friday.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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