The Daily Populous Friday May 15th, 2026 day edition
Authored by cnn.com and submitted by fistedsister89

The FBI is offering $200,000 for information that could lead to the arrest of a former Air Force intelligence specialist who was charged in 2019 with spying for Iran.

In an announcement Thursday, the FBI said it is still trying to locate Monica Witt, who it believes defected to Iran in 2013. The agency said it believes she “likely continues to support (Iran’s) nefarious activities.”

“The FBI has not forgotten and believes that during this critical moment in Iran’s history, there is someone who knows something about her whereabouts,” Daniel Wierzbicki, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division, said a statement, likely referring to the US’ ongoing tensions with Iran.

“The FBI wants to hear from you so you can help us apprehend Witt and bring her to justice,” it said.

Witt was a former counterintelligence officer for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. From 2003 and 2008, Witt’s work involved counterintelligence assignments that took her to the Middle East.

FBI Washington Field Office Announces $200,000 Reward for Information Leading to Arrest of Former US Counterintelligence Agent Monica Witt. FBI

In 2019, then-Assistant Attorney General John Demers alleged that Witt was targeted and recruited by Iran, and after she defected, she allegedly revealed to Iran the existence of a “highly classified intelligence collection program” and the identity of a US intelligence officer, “thereby risking the life of this individual.”

Prosecutors alleged in the indictment that from around January 2012 to around May 2015, in Iran and elsewhere outside the US, Witt conspired with Iranians to provide “documents and information relating to the national defense of the United States, with the intent and reason to believe that the same would be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of Iran.”

After her defection, Iranian government officials provided Witt with “goods and services, including housing and computer equipment,” to facilitate her work for them, according to the indictment. It’s unclear whether she has a lawyer in the US to represent her.

The indictment also charged four Iranians with conspiracy, attempts to commit computer intrusion and aggravated identity theft.

Rattus_NorvegicUwUs on May 14th, 2026 at 23:38 UTC »

lol you ain’t seeing a dime of that money.

Far_Radish7752 on May 14th, 2026 at 23:17 UTC »

Fat chance she is even accessible to be “questioned”. If she defected to Iran… in all likelihood, that’s where she will be.

Shadowthron8 on May 14th, 2026 at 23:14 UTC »

Lady disappeared over ten years ago