While some on the left continue to push debunked theories that former President Donald Trump conspired with Russia to win the 2016 election, new reports show that an intelligence official who served in the Biden administration’s National Security Agency funneled sensitive defense data to a source he believed to be a Russian Federation agent.
In reality, 31-year-old Jareh Sebastian Dalke was speaking to an undercover FBI agent and pleaded guilty earlier this week to six counts of attempting to transmit classified information to a foreign agent.
Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 31, of Colorado Springs, has pleaded guilty to six counts trying to transmit classified intelligence to an agent of #Russia.
Dalke had worked as a technician at #NSA from 2021-22. Shades of Snowden. https://t.co/ZO71aH10cb
— Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) October 24, 2023
The military veteran worked at the National Security Agency for a short time and submitted his resignation when he was denied a request for a leave of absence. At that point, authorities say he began communicating via encrypted email with an individual he believed to be a Russian agent.
Dalke reportedly shared excerpts from three classified documents he took while working as an information systems security designer for the NSA. A broad description of the material indicated that it pertained to U.S. defense secrets and military capabilities of an unspecified country.
As the Justice Department explained: “Dalke admitted that between August and September 2022, in order to demonstrate both his ‘legitimate access and willingness to share,’ he used an encrypted email account to transmit excerpts of three classified documents to an individual he believed to be a Russian agent. In actuality, that person was an FBI online covert employee.”
Early on in their conversations, Dalke reportedly asked for $85,000 in compensation for full access to the stolen classified material. He also indicated that he would be able to provide additional sensitive material at a later date.
Evidence shows that Dalke re-applied for a position at the NSA after delivering a batch of information to the undercover FBI agent.
He arranged a meeting in Denver in late September 2022 and presented for files containing classified information, at which point he was taken into custody.
The terms of his plea deal limits the prosecution’s sentencing request to 22 years, although it will be up to the judge how much time Dalke will spend behind bars.
