Seth Chambers, a Texas County, Missouri man identified as a former Marine Intelligence analyst, was charged Friday with two counts of knowingly passing on national defense information. The indictment alleges that his job duties granted him a security clearance and authorized access to classified material up to the level of Top Secret, giving him access to sensitive national defense information.
According to the US Department of Justice, the first alleged transmission occurred on December 10, 2022, when he shared a white paper containing verbatim and near verbatim excerpts from classified US government documents with an individual in Maryland. The second alleged transmission occurred on April 20, 2023, when he sent another document containing similar excerpts to a person believed to be in China, the agency noted.
Authorities emphasized that the charges in the indictment are only allegations and do not constitute proof of guilt. The evidence must be presented to a federal grand jury, which will ultimately decide whether the accused is guilty or innocent, it said.
“A former naval Intel analyst allegedly transferred classified defense information twice in 2022 and 2023 … the second time, sending it to someone he believed to be in China,” FBI Director Kash Patel told X.
He added: “He was caught and is now being charged.”
Who is Seth Chambers?
Seth Chambers, 35, a former intelligence analyst in the United States Marine Corps, worked as a civilian contractor and was deployed in Iraq during the period cited in the indictment.
If convicted under federal law, Chambers could face up to 10 years in prison without the possibility of parole in either case. The maximum sentence was set by Congress and is mentioned for informational purposes because the final sentence will be decided by the court after considering the Sentencing Advisory Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Jim Kelleher, along with District Attorneys Nicolas Hunter and Sean O’Dowd of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. The FBI’s Kansas City Field Office conducted the investigation.
A former MI5 operative accused of leaking secrets had access to the virtually internal systems available to staff: the court
In related news, a former employee of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5 accused of passing classified information to a foreign state had access to virtually all internal systems available to employees, a London court said Friday, AFP reported.
Juan Joseph, 43, who worked as an IT contractor for MI5 for more than a decade, faces charges of breaching the Official Secrets Act and the National Security Act when he sues his former employer.
Proceedings in the case take place partially in private at London’s Central Criminal Court. A protected witness from MI5 told the court that Joseph had the highest level security clearance and had access to “everything that MI5 staff would have access to” through staff desktop systems.
