Mahaz News
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A retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who saved recordsdata with categorized info at his Florida house is about to plead responsible in February to 1 depend of illegal retention of nationwide protection info, in keeping with courtroom paperwork.
The defendant, Robert Birchum, served within the Air Force for greater than 30 years and beforehand held high secret clearance. According to his plea settlement, he saved a whole lot of recordsdata that contained info marked as high secret, secret or confidential categorized exterior of licensed places.
In 2017, investigators discovered a thumb drive, two exhausting drives and paper paperwork containing categorized info in Birchum’s possession, together with at his house, courtroom paperwork state. Two of the recordsdata on the thumb drive at Birchum’s house contained info on the National Security Agency’s “methods of collection, and identify targets’ vulnerabilities,” in keeping with the plea.
Mahaz News has reached out to Birchum’s legal professional for remark.
A plea listening to is about for February 21 in a district courtroom in Florida, and he faces a most of 10 years in jail.
The Daily Beast first reported on the plea settlement.
The case involves an in depth as Washington is embroiled in controversy over the dealing with of categorized paperwork by President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. Two particular counsels are investigating Biden and Trump, and the Justice Department is reviewing the Pence case.
While Birchum had high secret clearance by means of his varied positions within the Air Force, together with as an Intelligence Officer, “(t)he defendant’s residence was not a location authorized to store classified information, and the defendant knew as much,” the plea settlement states.
On a tough drive at his house, investigators discovered 10 recordsdata that had “information marked as Secret,” in keeping with the settlement, in addition to 48 paper paperwork that additionally contained info marked as secret. On the thumb drive recovered from his house, investigators say they discovered 135 recordsdata marked as containing categorized info.
Separately, in a brief residence abroad exterior of a delegated delicate compartmented info facility (SCIF), investigators say they discovered one other exhausting drive containing 117 recordsdata with categorized nationwide protection info.
According to courtroom filings, Birchum retired from the Air Force in 2018. An Air Force spokesperson declined to remark.
Source web site: www.cnn.com
