Google Alert – BD Army
An active duty soldier has been charged with seeking to pass sensitive information about the US Army’s main battle tank to the Russian government, the US Justice Department has announced.
The suspect, Taylor Adam Lee, has been charged with “attempted transmission of national defense information to a foreign adversary and attempted export of controlled technical data without a license”, the Justice Department said in a statement on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reports.
Lee, a 22-year-old soldier stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas, has yet to enter a plea in the charges, filed at the US District Court for the Western District of Texas.
John A Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, said Lee sought to “transmit sensitive national defense information to Russia” regarding the operation of the M1A2 Abrams – the main battle tank used by the US Army.
In June, Lee is said to have gone online and offered assistance to Russia in exchange for Russian citizenship. In the alleged messages, Lee, who holds a top-secret security clearance, allegedly “transmitted export-controlled technical information” about the M1A2’s operation and vulnerabilities.
“The USA is not happy with me for trying to expose their weaknesses,” Lee reportedly said. “At this point, I’d even volunteer to assist the Russian Federation when I’m there in any way,” he added.
Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, said Lee then shared a memory card containing documents and information about the tank and other US military operations during an in-person meeting in July with someone he believed to be a Russian intelligence officer.
bd-pratidin/GR