Former government contractor at Fort Bragg indicted for allegedly leaking information
NORTH CAROLINA (WWAY) — A former government contractor was arrested for allegedly leaking national defense information and stealing a pair of night vision goggles.
According to the Department of Justice, 37-year-old James Thomas Ashbacher of Spring Lake, North Carolina, was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday for allegedly leaking information by posting the information on social media, unlawfully retaining other national defense information at his residence, and stealing night vision goggles from the U.S. Army’s Special Operations Command.
According to an unsealed indictment, beginning in or about 2021, the Ashbacher worked as an employee of a private company that provided security and emergency management services at the U.S. Army Special Operations Command facility in Fort Bragg.
To perform the required functions of his employment, Ashbacher held a Top Secret security clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access.
As further detailed in the indictment, Ashbacher photographed and removed without authorization videos and photographs containing images of classified military operations and transmitted the materials to social media, which were later re-posted.
Ashbacher asked a social media user in a private message to remove some materials and further stated that he was “trying to do some damage control.”
A search of Ashbacher’s residence also revealed a classified award write-up that contained additional national defense information, along with a night vision goggle system specific to a military unit within Army Special Operations Command that had been reported missing.
The FBI Charlotte Field Office is investigating the case with substantial assistance from the U.S. Department of the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division.
