Defense Intelligence Agency Worker Accused Of Information Leaks

ALEXANDRIA, VA — A Defense Intelligence Agency worker from Alexandria was arrested and charged Wednesday for allegedly giving classified national defense information to two journalists, according to federal officials.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment Tuesday, charging Henry Kyle Frese, 30, with two counts of willful transmission of national defense information to persons not entitled to receive it. He faces up to 10 years in prison on each count if convicted.

According to court documents, Frese allegedly had a relationship with one of the journalists, and they had the same address from August 2017 to August 2018. He is accused of accessing classified intelligence reports between mid-April and early May 2018 and giving that journalist information on a foreign country's weapons system. The Justice Department alleges that some reports were "unrelated to his job duties."

After Frese allegedly spoke on the phone with both journalists, the first journalist published an article containing classified national defense information.

On Sept. 24, 2019, court-authorized surveillance of Frese's cell phone found him giving classified information to the second journalist. The journalists or publications involved were not identified.

Frese has a top secret and sensitive compartmented information security clearance. In a news release, the Justice Department said the "disclosures contained NDI classified at the SECRET level, meaning that the unauthorized disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to cause serious harm to the national security of the United States."

The Justice Department has charged six people including Frese in leaking cases over two years.