In the wake of the DOJ catching an anti-Trump Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) bureaucrat being caught selling national security-related information to a foreign government, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel took to X to sound off on the “persistent threat” America faces from such treason and espionage-related matters.
As background, the IT specialist is named Nathan Vilas Laatsch. He was working as a contractor for the DIA and hates President Donald Trump, and so used his Top Secret security clearance to sell classified information that he thought would harm the Trump Administration, as the DOJ exposed in its announcement of his arrest.
FBI Director Patel, for his part, used the incident to note that the security environment is a dangerous one for America because of traitors like Laatsch. Beginning the post, he gave a brief description of what happened, saying, “Today, an IT specialist employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency was arrested for attempting to transmit classified national defense information to a foreign government.”
Continuing, he used the case to comment on the “insider threats” America faces from espionage-minded traitors like Laatsch, saying, “This case underscores the persistent risk of insider threats. The FBI remains steadfast in protecting our national security and thanks our law enforcement partners for their critical support.”
The DOJ, announcing the arrest of Laatsch in a press release, began by saying, “An IT specialist employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was arrested today for attempting to transmit national defense information to an officer or agent of a foreign government. Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 28, of Alexandria, was arrested in northern Virginia and will make his initial court appearance tomorrow.”
Continuing, it noted that Laatsch was clearly motivated by his immense hatred of President Donald Trump. Exposing as much, the DOJ said, “According to court documents, Laatsch became a civilian employee of the DIA in 2019, where he works with the Insider Threat Division and holds a Top Secret security clearance. In March, the FBI commenced an operation after receiving a tip that an individual – now known to be Laatsch – offered to provide classified information to a friendly foreign government. In that email, the sender wrote that he did not ‘agree or align with the values of this administration’ and was therefore ‘willing to share classified information’ to which he had access, including ‘completed intelligence products, some unprocessed intelligence, and other assorted classified documentation.'”
Building on that, the DOJ noted that the FBI caught him and managed to trick him into thinking an FBI agent was a foreign official, saying, “After multiple communications with an FBI agent – who Laatsch allegedly believed to be an official of the foreign government – Laatsch began transcribing classified information to a notepad at his desk and, over the course of approximately three days, repeatedly exfiltrated the information from his workspace. Laatsch subsequently confirmed to the FBI agent that he was prepared to transmit the information.”
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Using that, the FBI managed to catch Laatsch in the act of trying to sell his classified information in a Northern Virginia park, saying, “The FBI implemented an operation at a public park in northern Virgina where Laatsch believed he would deposit the classified information for the foreign government to retrieve. On May 1, FBI surveillance observed Laatsch proceed to the specified location and deposit an item. Following Laatsch’s departure, the FBI retrieved the item, which was a thumb drive later found to contain a message from Laatsch and multiple typed documents, each containing information that was portion-marked up to the Secret or Top Secret levels. The message from Laatsch indicated that he had chosen to include “a decent sample size” of classified information to “decently demonstrate the range of types of products” to which he had access.”
The DOJ went on to explain that Laatsch was tyring to sell the information in exchange for citizenship in the unnamed country, saying, “After receiving confirmation that the thumb drive had been received, on May 7, Laatsch allegedly sent a message to the FBI agent, which indicated Laatsch was seeking something from the foreign government in return for continuing to provide classified information. The next day, Laatsch specified that he was interested in ‘citizenship for your country’ because he did not ‘expect[] things here to improve in the long term.’ Although he said he was ‘not opposed to other compensation,’ he was not in a position where he needed to seek ‘material compensation.’”
Concluding, the DOJ described how it managed to finally arrest Laatsch in a public place in Northern Virginia, saying, “On May 14, the FBI agent advised Laatsch that it was prepared to receive additional classified information. Between May 15 and May 27, Laatsch again repeatedly transcribed multiple pages of notes while logged into his classified workstation, folded the notes, and exfiltrated the classified information in his clothing. On May 29, Laatsch arrived at a prearranged location in northern Virginia, where Laatsch again allegedly attempted to transmit multiple classified documents to the foreign country. Laatsch was arrested upon the FBI’s receipt of the documents.”
Watch Kash expose FBI involvement in J6 here:
Featured image credit: By U.S. Secretary of Defense – 210114-D-BN624-0319, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99003202