Nathan Vilas Laatsch, a 28-year-old IT specialist employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency, was arrested on Thursday after he allegedly attempted to leak national defense information to a foreign government, the Justice Department announced.
Laatsch, who works with the Insider Threat Division and holds a Top Secret security clearance, allegedly offered to provide information to a friendly foreign government.
A tip sent to the FBI indicated that Laatsch had attempted to divulge the information as he did not “agree or align with the values of this administration” and was therefore “willing to share classified information.”
While unknowingly speaking to an FBI agent, Laatsch was said to have expressed interest in gaining “citizenship for your country” because he did not “expect[] things here to improve in the long term.”