Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation have made a big arrest concerning a very important espionage case that, had the individual involved been successful in their mission, would have had massive national security implications for our country.
“NSA staffer Jareh Sebastian Dalke of Colorado Springs, Colo., made his first federal court appearance on charges he attempted to sell government secrets to an undercover FBI agent believed to be a foreign operative. Dalke is facing espionage-related charges for allegedly plotting to transmit National Defense Information to a Russian agent,” the Conservative Brief reported.
The Justice Department put out a press release that Dalke, 30, “served as an Information Systems Security Designer” for a time period of less than a month earlier in 2022 and utilized an encrypted email account to send a number of classified documents to a person he thought was working on behalf of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.
Where I come from, we call this treason. And in my opinion, that’s what this man deserves to be charged with. He’s a traitor to his own people, to a country that has provided him with endless opportunity and the freedom to live his life the way he chooses to. It’s utterly disgusting to see someone treat the United States, the greatest country on the planet, with such ingratitude and disloyalty.
“In actuality, that person was an undercover FBI agent. Dalke subsequently arranged to transfer additional classified information in his possession to the undercover FBI agent at a location in Denver, Colorado,” the DOJ’s press release said.
The NSA staffer was taken into custody a week ago after he went to meet up with the alleged Russian contact where he planned on selling more information. It’s always about the money, isn’t it? People would seemingly do anything in order to make a buck, including selling out their own country and culture.
“According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Dalke began communicating on or about July 29, 2022, via encrypted email with an individual he believed to be associated with a foreign government. Dalke told that individual that he had taken highly sensitive information relating to foreign targeting of U.S. systems and information on U.S. cyber operations, among other topics,” the press release continued.
It then said, “Dalke represented to the undercover FBI agent that he was still employed by the U.S. government but said he was on a temporary assignment at a field location. Dalke requested compensation via a specific type of cryptocurrency in exchange for the information he possessed and stated that he was in financial need.”
“To prove he had access to sensitive information, Dalke transmitted excerpts of three classified documents to the undercover FBI agent. Each excerpt contained classification markings. One excerpt was classified at the Secret level, and two excerpts were classified at the Top Secret level. In return for this information, the FBI undercover agent provided the requested cryptocurrency to an address Dalke provided,” the press release added.
“On or about Aug. 26, 2022, Dalke requested $85,000 in return for additional information in his possession. Dalke also told the FBI undercover agent that he would share additional information in the future, once he returned to the Washington, D.C., area. Although he was not employed by the NSA while communicating with the FBI, Dalke re-applied to the NSA in August 2022,” the DOJ said.
The former NSA staff agreed to send more information through a secure connection that was established by the FBI at a public site in Denver, Colorado. Dalke was then arrested by agents at that location on Wednesday.
Court documents reveal that Dalke allegedly told the undercover agent that he “recently learned that my heritage ties back to your country, which is part of why I have come to you.”
Dalke also allegedly wanted to sell America’s secrets because he “questioned our role in damage to the world in the past and by mixture of curiosity for secrets and a desire to cause change.”
If Dalke ends up being convicted, he could potentially face the death penalty. I’m okay with that. You play stupid games, win stupid prizes, right?
“Dalke is charged by criminal complaint alleging three violations of the Espionage Act, which makes it a crime to transmit or attempt to transmit NDI to a representative of a foreign nation with intent or reason to believe that information could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation,” the press release pointed out. “The Espionage Act carries a potential sentence of death or any term of years up to life.”
