An IT specialist with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was arrested Thursday for allegedly attempting to transmit classified national security information to a foreign government official or agent.
Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 28, of Alexandria, Virginia, was taken into custody near Washington, D.C., and is scheduled to make his initial court appearance tomorrow. Court documents state that Laatsch joined the DIA as a civilian employee in 2019, working in the Insider Threat Division—a role that granted him a Top Secret security clearance.
The FBI launched an investigation back in March after receiving a tip that an individual — now identified as Laatsch — offered to provide classified information to a “friendly” foreign government. In an email, the federal employee indicated that did not “agree or align with the values of this administration” and was therefore “willing to share classified information” to which he had access, including “completed intelligence products, some unprocessed intelligence, and other assorted classified documentation.”
After multiple exchanges with an undercover FBI agent he believed to be an official from a foreign government, Laatsch—an employee reportedly critical of Trump—began transcribing classified information onto a notepad at his desk. Over the following three days, he repeatedly leaked sensitive material from within his workspace, according to charging documents.
“Laatsch subsequently confirmed to the FBI agent that he was prepared to transmit the information,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced in a press release.
The FBI organized an operation in a public park where Laatsch intended to deposit classified information for a foreign government to retrieve.
“On May 1, FBI surveillance observed Laatsch proceed to the specified location and deposit an item. Following Laatsch’s departure, the FBI retrieved the item, which was a thumb drive later found to contain a message from Laatsch and multiple typed documents, each containing information that was portion-marked up to the Secret or Top Secret levels,” prosecutors detailed in the press release.
“The message from Laatsch indicated that he had chosen to include ‘a decent sample size’ of classified information to ‘decently demonstrate the range of types of products’ to which he had access,” they added.
After confirming that the package was received on May 7, he contacted the undercover FBI agent again, requesting compensation to continue providing classified information. The following day, Laatsch indicated that he was interested in obtaining citizenship in the unnamed country because he did not “expect things here to improve in the long term.”
Although he said he was “not opposed to other compensation,” he was not in a position where he needed to seek “material compensation.”
After Laatsch agreed to provide additional classified information, agents arranged further meetings, during which he allegedly shared sensitive materials between May 15 and May 27. On May 29, he arrived at a prearranged location in northern Virginia, where he again attempted to pass multiple classified documents to what he believed was a foreign government.
FBI agents arrested him upon receipt of the classified information, the Justice Department said.
