FBI arrests would-be leaker

The FBI on Thursday arrested 28-year-old IT specialist Nathan Vilas Laatsch of Alexandria, Va., for attempting to disclose classified information to a friendly foreign country. Laatsch had inside access to secret government information as a civilian employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

How did authorities catch him? The FBI said it started an investigation in March when it received a tip that Laatsch was willing to pass along information as an inside source, according to the Justice Department. The email tip reported that Laatsch did not agree with the values of current U.S. government leaders. Later, the DOJ said, Laatsch reported that he was interested in becoming a citizen of the responding country.

Agents staged several interactions with the suspect in which they requested and he provided government information. He smuggled notes out of the building and also left a thumb drive at an agreed-upon location. Agents arrested him at a meeting where he planned to hand over government secrets. He appeared in court on Friday in the Eastern District of Virginia.