The US Justice ​Department accused a authorities contractor on Friday of leaking nationwide protection info to his girlfriend, the ‌writer of a Substack e-newsletter.

The FBI arrested Ian Brinksman, 42, on Friday following a search of his Washington residence, a Justice Department assertion said.

Prosecutors charged him with unlawfully transmitting nationwide protection info.

The FBI investigated the case of a authorities contractor who allegedly leaked nationwide protection secrets and techniques. Anadolu via Getty Images

A federal public defender representing Brinksman declined to remark.

“As alleged, Brinksman reached far ​outside his own duties to obtain some of our Nation’s most closely held secrets and handed them to ​a romantic partner he knew intended to publish them,” John Eisenberg, assistant legal professional common for ⁠nationwide safety, said in the assertion.

“That is not carelessness. It is a betrayal of his oath and the American ​people who entrusted him to fulfill his duties honorably,” Eisenberg said.

Brinksman held a high secret safety clearance while working as ​an worker of a US authorities company and later as a developer for programs integration for a non-public contractor working for the same company, prosecutors said.

According to the sworn affidavit of an FBI agent investigating the case, Brinksman repeatedly accessed categorised intelligence reports and then ​communicated with the journalist.

The contractor allegedly gave categorised info to his girlfriend, who revealed it in a Substack e-newsletter. Getty Images

The affidavit also cites cellphone information, database entry logs, badge-swipe information, emails and other proof.

The affidavit ​only identifies the journalist as “Individual 1,” but it cites excerpts from articles she revealed.

“A fundraising article reportedly published by Individual 1 in ‌September ⁠2026 stated ‘over the past year [Individual 1 has] published reporting based on classified [relevant US government agency] assessments that I believe the public deserves to know about,’” the affidavit reads.

That quote seems in a September 28 piece revealed on the Capital & Empire on-line e-newsletter authored by Aída Chávez.

Investigators allege the writer launched at least 5 articles in 2026 that mirrored top-secret CIA reports. Getty Images

“Over the past year, I’ve published reporting based on classified CIA assessments that I believe the ​public deserves to know about,” ​wrote Chávez, whose profile ⁠on the web site notes that she labored for the Nation and other retailers before she launched the e-newsletter.

Chávez did not instantly reply to an electronic mail message searching for remark.

Investigators allege that ​on at least 5 events in 2026, Individual 1 revealed Substack articles containing info ​that mirrored the ⁠categorised reports, some at the high secret degree.

On some of these dates, Chávez revealed articles that cite categorised reports, some of them attributed to the CIA.

According to a LinkedIn profile bearing Brinksman’s identify, he labored for Deloitte as a supervisor and ⁠as a ​senior technique safety marketing consultant after having labored as a US State ​Department overseas service officer at dates corresponding to these outlined in the Justice Department assertion.

Deloitte did not instantly reply to requests for remark. The State ​Department said it wanted more time to reply before commenting.