An expert from the US Department of Defense intelligence agency pleaded guilty Thursday, admitting to having disclosed strictly confidential military information to journalists. Henry Kyle Frese, 31, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for revealing secret information to journalists, including details of foreign countries' weapons systems, the justice ministry said in a statement.
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Specializing in the fight against terrorism, Henry Kyle Frese was employed full time by the American Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from February 2018 until his arrest in October 2019. He had a high security clearance. The analyst searched government-restricted computer systems at least 30 times in 2018, US law enforcement officials said. He then transmitted the information collected to two journalists in 2018 and 2019, either orally, or by sending them private messages on social networks according to the same source.
Media, whose name is not specified, published eight articles containing classified information, according to the Ministry of Justice. Henry Kyle Frese "has drawn the attention of our country's adversaries to sensitive information on national defense, endangering the security of the nation," said John Demers, Deputy Minister of Justice responsible for national security matters . "Disclosing this type of information for personal gain, or that of others, is not altruistic or heroic, it is criminal," he added.
Journalists involved in the case are believed to work for CNBC and NBC News, according to American media.