Intelligence agent arrested for spilling secrets to journalists

[mystery-ak]

 Intelligence agent arrested for spilling secrets to journalists

By Bob Fredericks

October 9, 2019 | 2:04pm | Updated

The feds busted a Defense Intelligence Agency worker Wednesday for leaking classified national defense information to two journalists in 2018 and 2019 — one of whom he was shacking up with.

Henry Kyle Frese, 30, a counterintelligence analyst from Alexandria, Virginia, who had a Top Secret security clearance, was indicted Tuesday on two counts of willful transmission of national defense information to persons not entitled to receive it.

“Frese was caught red-handed disclosing sensitive national security information for personal gain,” said John C. Demers, assistant attorney general for national security, who cited ex-Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ vow to pursue leakers as the motivation for the probe.

“Frese betrayed the trust placed in him by the American people — a betrayal that risked harming the national security of this country. This is one of six unauthorized disclosure cases the Department has charged in just over two years, and we will continue in our efforts to punish and deter this behavior.”

more
https://nypost.com/2019/10/09/intelligence-agent-arrested-for-spilling-secrets-to-journalists/

[Wingnut]

 "The names of the journalists and the news organizations they worked for were not revealed."

I would like to know this minor detail!

[mountaineer]

"The names of the journalists and the news organizations they worked for were not revealed."

I would like to know this minor detail!

Tracked it down for you.

Matthew Keys  @MatthewKeysLive
Can confirm based on public records and information contained in the court records: The journalist defense employee Henry K. Frese is accused of leaking classified information to is @amanda_m_macias, a CNBC national security reporter. The affiliated news organization is NBC News.
1:58 PM · Oct 9, 2019

Matthew Keys  @MatthewKeysLive
#BREAKING: Source at NBC News with knowledge of matter says @amanda_m_macias
 has been suspended following arrest of former love interest and purported source Henry Frese, a defense intelligence analyst accused of leaking to her. Suspension “procedural,” not discipliary.

The source who told me this works for NBC News but didn’t want to be identified otherwise because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Worth noting @amanda_m_macias
 is a CNBC journalist. CNBC and NBC News are affiliate orgs but have separate employees.

4:05 PM · Oct 9, 2019·

[mystery-ak]

more

Defense official arrested for leaking information to journalists
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/465040-defense-official-arrested-for-leaking-information-to-journalists

[Wingnut]

Thanks!   

Bumping uglies for info. This guy must not have been able to get laid on his own!

[Wingnut]

Henry Kyle Frese is the U.S. Defense Intelligence counter-terrorism analyst who is accused of leaking documents related to North Korea to CNBC’s Amanda Macias and another reporter. Matthew Keys was the first to identify Macias as “Journalist 1” in the complaint and MSNBCs’ Courtney Kube as the other. Keys also named North Korea as the country in question in the criminal complaint.

https://heavy.com/news/2019/10/henry-kyle-frese/

[mountaineer]

She used to write for Business Insider:

Amanda was formerly a correspondent for Business Insider's military and defense team. Before Business Insider, she worked as a field producer for Reuters in Brussels covering NATO and EU political institutions.

Amanda grew up in the US Army and graduated from the University of Missouri-School of Journalism. She lives in Washington, DC, with her spoiled cat, Harlem.

Disclosure: Amanda has family who work at Lockheed Martin, a company she regularly covers.

[mountaineer]

Wall Street Journal:

Counterterrorism Analyst Arrested for Leaking to Two Journalists
Classified reports allegedly released to CNBC and NBC had to do with foreign country’s weapons systems
The Justice Department said it had arrested a counterterrorism analyst for allegedly releasing information to two journalists. By Aruna Viswanatha, Dustin Volz and Byron Tau
Oct. 9, 2019 2:14 pm ET

ALEXANDRIA, Va—A U.S. counterterrorism analyst was arrested at the Defense Intelligence Agency where he worked on charges related to alleged leaks of information to two journalists, the Justice Department said.

Wednesday’s move is the latest in a series of prosecutions during the Trump administration of government employees accused of sharing classified information with the media.

Henry Kyle Frese, 30 years old, accessed classified intelligence reports about a foreign country’s weapons systems last year and provided them to two unidentified journalists, according to newly unsealed court documents.

The journalists aren’t named in the indictment, but they are identifiable as Amanda Macias, a national security reporter for CNBC, and Courtney Kube, a national security reporter for NBC. Public tweets cited in the court filings correspond to tweets sent by Ms. Macias and Ms. Kube in July of last year. ...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/counterterrorism-analyst-arrested-for-leaking-to-two-journalists-11570644872

[skeeter]

Henry Kyle Frese is the U.S. Defense Intelligence counter-terrorism analyst who is accused of leaking documents related to North Korea to CNBC’s Amanda Macias and another reporter. Matthew Keys was the first to identify Macias as “Journalist 1” in the complaint and MSNBCs’ Courtney Kube as the other. Keys also named North Korea as the country in question in the criminal complaint.

https://heavy.com/news/2019/10/henry-kyle-frese/

Apparently this article, at least, resulted from this idiot's leaking. Recall all the scoffing that accompanied it.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/north-korea-rebuilding-long-range-rocket-site-photos-show-n979721

[mrclose]

[Wingnut]

Lets arrest the "Journalists" also. 

[mrclose]

Lets arrest the "Journalists" also.

I might be mistaken but didn't the courts rule that receiving and publishing 'leaked' information wasn't against the law?

NYT vs ?

[Wingnut]

I might be mistaken but didn't the courts rule that receiving and publishing 'leaked' information wasn't against the law?

NYT vs ?

Don't know.  I liken to to Jerry Rivers giving away a military position on air/live tv.   

[mrclose]

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

Pentagon Papers

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-government-and-politics/civil-liberties-and-civil-rights/first-amendment-press/a/new-york-times-co-v-united-states-1971

[PeteS in CA]

https://pjmedia.com/jchristianadams/meet-kyle-frese-trump-hater-federal-employee-arrested-for-leaking-national-security-secrets/

Frese was a federal employee at the Defense Intelligence Agency. It comes as no surprise that Frese — like so many other federal employees in Washington, D.C. — is full of hatred toward Donald Trump and willing to use his personal power and government job to attack the president and conservatives. Let's peruse his Twitter feed before it disappears.
...
Frese went to college and graduate school in Canada. His posts routinely cover national security and foreign affairs issues. They are also vehemently hostile to Donald Trump and his foreign policy. A post just this week regarding Turkey and Syria says, "Once again we remind our current, and any potential future allies, that at some point we will [expletive] them over." I could find no postings on his Twitter feed regarding the Obama administration meddling in Israel's elections or striking up a nuclear deal with Iran.
...
Frese didn't just hate Trump, he hated those around Trump, including Sebastian Gorka. Upon reading that Gorka would be traveling with Trump, Frese attacked Gorka by posting an imaginary quote from a White House official: "You know what would be good optics right now? SecState travelling with someone who was disgraced from the White House and has clear ties to European white nationalist groups." Gorka does not have ties to European white nationalist groups.

And much more.

[PeteS in CA]

An update, https://foxwilmington.com/headlines/ex-dia-employee-pleads-guilty-to-leaking-top-secret-info-to-reporters/

Ex-DIA employee pleads guilty to leaking top-secret info to reporters

Henry Kyle Frese, 31, of Alexandria, Va., was a counterterrorism analyst from February 2018 to October 2019 and held top-secret security clearance.

Between the spring and summer of 2018, a reporter published eight articles containing classified information related to the capabilities of certain foreign countries’ weapons systems, according to court documents cited in a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
...
According to court documents, Frese and the reporter lived together from January 2018 to November 2018. Around April 2018, the reporter introduced Frese to another reporter, whom he began texting and speaking with by telephone, according to the DOJ.
...
Frese pleaded guilty to the willful transmission of top-secret national defense information. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when sentenced in June.

[mountaineer]

Thanks for the update, Pete.

[Sighlass]

In the meanwhile the reporter that slept her way into classified information is "on assignment" in France of course.

https://twitter.com/amanda_m_macias/status/1229779879471845376

[Smokin Joe]

Thanks!   

Bumping uglies for info. This guy must not have been able to get laid on his own!

The 'honey pot' has been around since secrets...