FBI Arrests, Charges NSA Contractor With Removal Of Classified Materials

The Justice Department announced Wednesday that the FBI in August had arrested a federal contractor with a top secret national security clearance on charges of removing classified materials.

The DOJ released a statement saying that Harold Thomas Martin III was arrested on Aug. 27 and charged two days later with theft of government property and unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials.

According to the statement, materials found in a search of Martin’s residence and vehicle included six classified documents “obtained from sensitive intelligence” which the agency described as “critical to a wide variety of national security issues.”

The New York Times reported earlier Wednesday, citing anonymous senior law enforcement and intelligence officials, that the FBI had arrested a contractor at the National Security Agency who was employed by Booz Allen Hamilton, the same firm that had employed Edward Snowden. In 2013, Snowden leaked thousands of top secret NSA documents to journalists.

The Times report, which did not name the contractor, also said that the contractor was suspected of taking “source code” used to break into the computer networks of foreign adversaries.

Booz Allen Hamilton told NBC News that Martin was fired after the arrest, and that it is cooperating with authorities.

Jim Wyda and Deborah Boardman, attorneys for Martin, said in a statement that there is no evidence that Martin is a traitor.

He “loves his family and his country” and “has devoted his entire career to protecting his country,” they wrote, as quoted by NBC News.

Read the criminal complaint below: