The Daily Populous Sunday January 19th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by latimes.com and submitted by alpacinohairline

A former CIA analyst has pleaded guilty to leaking information on a planned Israeli attack on Iran.

Asif Rahman, 34, was arrested by the FBI in November weeks after classified documents appeared on the Telegram messaging app.

He entered guilty pleas Friday in federal court in Virginia to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to the national defense, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Rahman, a CIA employee since 2016, abused his access to top-secret information by printing out documents related to Israel so that he could take them home. He reproduced them and altered them as a way to cover his tracks, prosecutors say, then leaked top-secret documents to people not authorized to receive them.

Two documents that surfaced on Telegram in October, attributed to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, noted that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1.

Israel carried out a retaliatory attack on air defense systems and missile manufacturing facilities in Iran in late October. In court papers, the government has said the leak caused Israel to delay its attack plans. The documents were shareable within the “Five Eyes” — the United States, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Rahman was born in California and moved with his family when he was a child to Cincinnati, where he was a high school valedictorian, according to court papers submitted by his lawyer. He went to Yale University and graduated in three years. He and his wife now live in the D.C. metro area, along with his parents.

LukasJackson67 on January 18th, 2025 at 23:50 UTC »

Why did he leak it?

Is he an Iranian sympathizer?

greenw40 on January 18th, 2025 at 20:07 UTC »

> He went to Yale University

What the hell is going on with the Ivy League lately?

alpacinohairline on January 18th, 2025 at 17:05 UTC »

A former CIA analyst has admitted to leaking classified details about a planned Israeli strike on Iran, an incident that raises significant questions about the intersection of national security and personal responsibility. The guilty plea underscores the fragility of trust within intelligence agencies and the potential fallout from unauthorized disclosures on international relations.

This case highlights the delicate balance between protecting sensitive information and maintaining oversight, especially in a world where geopolitical tensions often demand secrecy. The broader implications for U.S.-Israel relations and Middle Eastern diplomacy cannot be overstated