The Border Patrol agent who grilled a national security reporter about classified leaks from the U.S. intelligence community is under investigation for the improper use of government computer systems, the New York Times reported Thursday.
Jeffrey Rambo was previously identified as the agent who obtained the confidential travel records of reporter Ali Watkins and pressed her to reveal her sources at a June 2017 meeting. Rambo reportedly used details about Watkins’ trip to Spain with her then-boyfriend James Wolfe, former security director of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to pressure her into divulging information.
Per the Times, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general is now investigating whether the California-based agent used Watkins’ travel data improperly or illegally.
Customs and Border Protection announced last month that its Office of Professional Responsibility was also looking into Rambo’s actions.
It’s still unclear whether any other government officials were involved in this extracurricular effort to obtain confidential information from journalists, or if Rambo was acting alone.
Wolfe was arrested last month on charges of lying to the FBI about his contacts with reporters. He has pleaded not guilty.
News of his arrest also revealed that federal investigators secretly seized Watkins’ emails and phone records—the first such incident under the Trump administration.
Watkins was working at Politico in the summer of 2017 and joined the Times in December. The newspaper reassigned her from D.C. to a new beat in New York last month.
Really there’s a Rambo, Jeffery working in Government? Jeff, Jeffy didn’t you learn anything from John?
OK now that I got that out of my system, was Watkins the only reporter who covered the IC that he spied on? Where and when did he have a chance to grill her?
He’s obviously being hung out to dry. I seriously doubt Agent Rambo had the ability to get the information he needed to harass her on his own.
My immediate thought: the Watergate burglars. What was Mr. Rambo up to? How did it relate to his supposed job? At whose behest was he doing this?
Start pulling on that thread, and see what unravels.
He didn’t.
This article has a pretty good summary of what he had access to.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/customs-and-border-protection-examining-agents-questioning-of-national-security-reporter/2018/06/12/05dac696-6e74-11e8-afd5-778aca903bbe_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.eef1dc97b0d3
This doesn’t mention the full story of how he was busted. He contacted her anonymously through email and set up a meeting at a DC restaurant, pretending to be a possible source. Instead he basically threatened to blackmail her for dirt on her sources - she didn’t bite. When they left she doubled back and talked to the bartender and got his name off the credit card bill. Lol.
Thing is, there’s no way some random border agent in California would have known anything about Watkins and her affair. There’s no way the theory that he freelanced this on his own holds together at all, because even if he had illegally looked up the info, he wouldn’t have known to do so.
Apparently this guy wants a career in Trump’s not yet announced secret police.