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The FBI arrested Ian A. Brinksman, 42, of Washington, D.C., on the morning of October 23 and charged him with unlawfully transmitting national defense information, the Justice Department said.
Agents arrested him after searching his residence. The charge was brought by criminal complaint, and the complaint's supporting affidavit is linked from the department's release.
According to the release, Brinksman began working for a U.S. government agency based in the Eastern District of Virginia in 2020. In 2022 he became a systems integration developer for a contractor serving that same agency. He held a Top Secret clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information. The release does not name the agency, though a statement from CIA Director John Ratcliffe says the contractor provided services to the CIA.
Prosecutors allege he passed national defense information to a person with whom he had an ongoing personal relationship. That person runs a Substack publication. A September 2026 fundraising article by the publisher claimed its reporting was based on classified assessments, and the publisher has posted that she accepts leaks. Officials say Brinksman went well beyond his duties to obtain the material and gave it to someone he knew intended to publish it.
The release does not describe the material or how it was taken. It also does not list maximum penalties.
The FBI Chicago Field Office led the investigation with substantial help from the FBI Washington Field Office. The CIA made the referral. The case is being prosecuted by attorneys from the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, together with prosecutors from the Eastern District of Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department will keep prosecuting people who leak classified information. FBI Director Kash Patel called protecting secrets a top counterintelligence priority. Ratcliffe said there is "absolutely zero tolerance for leaking." Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg called the alleged conduct a betrayal of the defendant's oath and, if proven at trial, a grave Espionage Act violation.
The charges are allegations. Brinksman is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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