A U.S. Air National Guardsman who allegedly leaked top-secret military intelligence records online has been indicted by a federal grand jury, according to the Justice Department.
Daniel Hale, 33, of Nashville, Tennessee, was charged with five counts of obtaining and disclosing national defense information without authorization.
The indictment alleges that Hale leaked 11 classified documents to a reporter while he was working as an intelligence analyst for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) from 2013 to 2014.
The documents contained information about U.S. military drone operations, including details about targets, strikes, casualties and assessments of the effectiveness of the drone program.
Some of the documents were published by an online news outlet in 2014 and 2015, exposing sensitive information that could harm national security and endanger human lives, the indictment says.
Hale also allegedly communicated with the reporter through encrypted messaging platforms and met with him at a bookstore in Washington, D.C., where he handed over a thumb drive containing classified documents.
If convicted, Hale faces up to 50 years in prison. He is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in Nashville on Thursday.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the National Security Division of the Justice Department.
The indictment is part of a broader crackdown on unauthorized disclosures of classified information by the U.S. government under both the Trump and Biden administrations.
In recent years, several former government employees and contractors have been charged with leaking national defense information to journalists or foreign agents, including former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, former CIA officer John Kiriakou and former FBI agent Terry Albury.
The Justice Department said it is committed to protecting national security while respecting the First Amendment rights of the press and the public.
“The unauthorized disclosure of classified information can cause irreparable harm to our national defense and can endanger innocent lives,” said Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “We will continue to hold accountable those who violate their solemn oath to protect our nation’s secrets and betray their country.”
