David Franklin Slater, a 63-year-old civilian US Air Force employee, was charged for leaking secret info about the war between Russia and Ukraine to his Ukrainian girlfriend – a woman he met on a foreign online dating platform, UK-based Daily Mail said in a report.
The man who retired as an Army lieutenant colonel and was assigned to the US Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base was arrested on Saturday on charges of illegally disclosing national defence information and conspiracy.
The man held a Top Secret security clearance from August 2021 until April 2022, the Justice Department said, adding that the man also attended briefings between February and April 2022 about Russia’s war with Ukraine.
He allegedly shared classified military information about Russian targets and capabilities on a dating platform with someone claiming to be in Ukraine, despite having signed paperwork pledging not to disclose such information.
The co-conspirator is referred to as Slater’s ‘secret informant love’ and described him as her ‘secret agent’.
Court documents showed that the woman asked specific details about the military operation in nine messages.
The woman sought military intelligence from Slater while referring affectionately to him as her clandestine source. She also enquired about NATO’s strategies and the supply of weapons and kept thanking Slater for the updates.
In one such message, she asks: “American Intelligence says that already 100% of Russian troops are located on the territory of Ukraine. Do you think this information can be trusted?”
In another message, she wants to know about NATO’s plans: “By the way, you were the first to tell me that NATO members are travelling by train and only now (already evening) this was announced on our news. You are my secret informant love! How were your meetings?”
If found guilty, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and fined up to $250,000 for each count related to the conspiracy to transmit and transmission of national defence information.
“Mr. Slater, an Air Force civilian employee and retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel, knowingly transmitted classified national defence information to another person in blatant disregard for the security of his country and his oath to safeguard its secrets,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said, adding that the justice department is committed to hold those accountable for willfully disclosing classified information that jeopardises national security.
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