US contractor charged with passing classified data to journalist — TimesLIVE
The US Department of Justice has charged 42-year-old government contractor Ian Brinksman with unlawfully transmitting information relating to national defense to a journalist with whom he was romantically involved. The Federal Bureau of Investigation detained Brinksman on October 23 after searching his home in Washington, TimesLIVE reports.
US Department of Justice charges
According to prosecutors, Brinksman obtained classified information outside the scope of his official duties and passed it to his partner, knowing of her intention to publish the information. He was charged with unlawfully transmitting information relating to national defense.
Prosecutors said that Brinksman had access to top-secret information while working at a US government agency. He later worked as a systems integration developer for a private contractor that worked with the same agency. The federal public defender representing Brinksman declined to comment.
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Investigation materials
An FBI agent's affidavit states that Brinksman repeatedly accessed classified intelligence reports and then communicated with the journalist. Investigators cite phone records, database access logs, badge-swipe data, email correspondence and other evidence.
In the documents, the journalist is identified as “Person 1.” Investigators claim that at least five of her articles published on Substack in 2026 contained information matching the contents of classified reports, including documents marked “top secret.”
The FBI statement quotes a passage from a September article about fundraising. The same text appears in a September 28 publication in the online newsletter Capital & Empire, written by Aida Chavez. Chavez’s profile states that before launching the newsletter, she worked at The Nation and other media outlets. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Deloitte and the US Department of State also did not provide immediate comments.
