Daniel Everette Hale, a former intelligence analyst for the National Security Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, was arrested Thursday and charged with giving classified information and documents to a reporter for an online news outlet.
The announcement of his arrest came from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. CNN detailed the case in a story on the news network's website. Hale's arrest stemmed from an indictment unsealed Thursday.
Hale, 31, of Nashville, Tennessee is scheduled to make his initial appearance Thursday at the federal courthouse in Nashville.
"According to allegations in the indictment, beginning in April 2013, while enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and assigned to the NSA, Hale began communicating with a reporter," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.
The U.S. Attorney's office noted the indictment also alleges "while employed as a cleared defense contractor for NGA, Hale printed from his Top Secret computer 36 documents, including 23 documents unrelated to his work at NGA. Of the 23 documents unrelated to his work at NGA, Hale provided at least 17 to the reporter and/or the reporter's online news outlet, which published the documents in whole or in part. Eleven of the published documents were marked as Top Secret or Secret."
Hale is charged with obtaining national defense information, retention and transmission of national defense information, causing the communication of national defense information, disclosure of classified communications intelligence information, and theft of government property. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each charge.
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