Former CIA Analyst Sentenced to Over Three Years in Prison for Unlawfully Transmitting Top Secret National Defense Information

A former CIA analyst was sentenced today to 37 months in prison for unlawfully retaining and transmitting Top Secret National Defense Information to people who were not entitled to receive it, information which was publicly posted on social media platforms in October 2024.

According to court documents, Asif William Rahman, 34, of Vienna, was an employee of the CIA since 2016 and had a Top Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) until his employment was terminated after his arrest.

“For months, this defendant betrayed the American people and the oaths he took upon entering his office by leaking some of our Nation’s most closely held secrets,” said John Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “As this case demonstrates, the Department of Justice will continue to protect our nation by vigorously investigating and prosecuting leakers who compromise our nation’s security.”

“Asif Rahman violated his position of trust by illegally accessing, removing, and transmitting Top Secret documents vital to the national security of the United States and its allies,” said Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “The urgency with which Mr. Rahman was identified, arrested, charged, and prosecuted is a testament to the commitment and professionalism of the investigators and prosecutors who brought him to justice. This case should serve as a stern warning to those who choose to place their own goals over their allegiance to our nation.”

“By stealing and divulging classified information and then attempting to conceal his crimes, Asif Rahman not only violated the law; he also betrayed his oath as a government employee and his responsibility to the American people,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “Now he will pay the price for putting American lives and U.S. national security at risk. Let this be a warning to all clearance holders: The FBI will exhaust all avenues to find and bring to justice anyone — no matter who they are — who endangers our nation by disclosing sensitive information without authorization."

On Oct. 17, 2024, Rahman accessed and printed two Top Secret documents containing National Defense Information regarding a U.S. foreign ally and its planned actions against a foreign adversary. Rahman removed the documents, photographed them, and transmitted them to individuals he knew were not entitled to receive them.  By Oct. 18, 2024, the documents appeared publicly on multiple social media platforms, complete with the classification markings. After Oct. 17, 2024, Rahman engaged in a deletion campaign of work product on his Top Secret work station.

In 2024, continuing through November, Rahman repeatedly accessed and printed classified National Defense Information, including documents classified up to the Top Secret and further compartmented levels, that he learned in the course of his employment and transmitted to multiple individuals he knew were not entitled to receive it.

Rahman was indicted by a grand jury on Nov. 7, 2024, and was arrested by the FBI as he arrived to work on Nov. 12, 2024. On Jan. 17, Rahman pleaded guilty to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to the national defense. He has remained in custody since his arrest.

The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy A. Edwards Jr. for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Christopher Cook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case.