A former U.S. government contractor has been charged with unlawfully transmitting and retaining national defense information and stealing night vision goggles belonging to the U.S. Army’s Special Operations Command, according to the Justice Department.
James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, of Spring Lake, North Carolina, was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday after an indictment was unsealed. According to the indictment, Ashbacher began working in 2021 for a private company providing security and emergency management services at the Army Special Operations Command facility at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. His position required a Top Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).
Prosecutors allege Ashbacher photographed and removed videos and photographs containing images of classified military operations without authorization, then transmitted the materials to a popular social media site. Other users later reposted the classified materials on a second social media platform. Ashbacher also allegedly sent a private message to a social media user asking for some of the material to be removed, saying he was “trying to do some damage control.”
A search of Ashbacher’s residence uncovered a classified award write-up containing additional national defense information, along with a night vision goggle system specific to an Army Special Operations Command military unit that had been reported missing. The FBI’s Charlotte Field Office is investigating with assistance from the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division.
The Justice Department said Ashbacher faces charges of unlawfully transmitting and retaining national defense information and theft of government property. The case is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
