A former senior executive at the CIA admitted in court Tuesday that he unmasked a clandestine human source and stole more than $195 million from U.S. coffers by launching fake classified operations, a stunning set of revelations that raised questions about CIA vetting and internal controls.
The former official, David J. Rush, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in federal district court in Alexandria, Virginia, and faces a maximum prison term of 20 years at his sentencing on Jan. 28.
Prosecutors revealed for the first time at Tuesday’s hearing, which was partially sealed to discuss classified records, that Rush leaked top-secret defense information to an official from a foreign government who was not entitled to have it.
Rush, 49, admitted in his plea agreement that he disclosed “the existence and certain descriptive information of a U.S. government clandestine human source.” That usually refers to a foreign government official or other individual who provides secret information to the CIA.
“The disclosure of such information could endanger the safety and life of the human source and the U.S. government officers working with the source and jeopardize the U.S. government’s ability to recruit human sources, who rely on the U.S. government’s assurance of absolute secrecy,” according to a document filed with Rush’s guilty plea.
The Justice Department did not publicly identify the foreign government Tuesday or allege that Rush was compensated for the information. An attorney for Rush, Jessica Carmichael, declined to comment after the hearing.
At times evoking a spy novel, the case has raised questions about how the CIA decided to place Rush in a sensitive intelligence position with control over large sums of money while failing to uncover basic falsehoods about his educational history and military service.
Former U.S. intelligence officials have said they were stunned to learn that Rush’s misrepresentations went unflagged in what are usually lengthy and rigorous background checks for would-be CIA employees. The CIA has placed several agency officials on leave as FBI and spy agency investigations continue, people familiar with the matter previously told The Washington Post.
The CIA has appointed a senior official to lead a group that will review how the spy agency’s internal controls failed and recommend changes, according to people familiar with the matter. That review, which is expected to be relatively rapid, is in addition to probes already underway by the inspectors general of the CIA and the U.S. intelligence community.
“Federal employees are entrusted with serving the American people, not themselves,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement after the hearing Tuesday. “The Trump Administration is committed to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, including by prosecuting those who foolishly defraud American taxpayers.”
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement that Rush, who was referred to the FBI after an internal agency probe, “abused his position and betrayed the public trust.”
“The Agency is committed to ensuring that those entrusted with our Nation’s secrets are held to the absolute highest standard,” Ratcliffe said.
Rush, who joined the CIA around 2009, was most recently employed as a senior executive in the agency’s Directorate of Science and Technology, which develops high-tech tools for spy missions, according to court records and current and former U.S. officials.
From November 2025 to March 2026, Rush repeatedly made requests for “a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses,” according to an FBI affidavit filed after Rush’s arrest in May.
Plea documents submitted Tuesday filled in some of the blanks regarding how Rush was able to steer nearly $200 million to himself.
Rush created a classified “special access program” inside the CIA, which was shrouded in secrecy by design, as The Post previously reported. According to new court documents, Rush claimed the fake spy program required luxury real estate properties in Florida to carry out its “sensitive” mission. He bought two mansions in Palm Beach, each worth more than $20 million; two parcels of land in South Florida for more than $53 million; and luxury vehicles.
Rush also admitted he devised a fake classified assignment to have the U.S. government buy 298 gold bars worth about $46 million, including purchase fees. FBI agents seized them while searching Rush’s home in Virginia this year, according to court records, along with $2 million in U.S. currency and more than 30 high-end watches.
“The defendant acted knowingly, deliberately and with intent to defraud,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Hakala said in court Tuesday.
Rush, dressed in a green prisoner jumpsuit, gave only brief responses at the hearing, confirming to U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff that he understood he was waiving his right to a public trial.
“Guilty, your honor,” Rush said, when asked how he pleaded to the wire fraud charge.
The CIA’s internal processes effectively allowed Rush “to serve as his own approval official for the expenditures,” according to the statement of facts filed with his guilty plea. Rush also “invoked classification and compartmentation to prevent the individuals he deceived from verifying the existence or legitimacy” of his purported spy activities, according to court filings.
In job applications to the U.S. government and in a form he submitted in 2009 to obtain his security clearance, Rush falsely claimed he had a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University and a master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, two schools he never attended, according to the plea documents.
He also lied about having served as a pilot and fraudulently collected $77,000 in military leave after being honorably discharged from the Navy Reserves in 2015, court records say.
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