CIA Contractor Charged With Leaking Top Secret Reports to Substack Writer He Was Dating
The FBI arrested a CIA contractor Friday on charges he leaked top secret intelligence to a romantic partner who runs a Substack newsletter and publicly invited leaks, the Justice Department announced.
Ian A. Brinksman, 42, of Washington, D.C., was arrested after a search of his home and charged by criminal complaint with unlawfully transmitting national defense information.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the agency referred the case to the FBI. “There is absolutely zero tolerance for leaking, and anyone who violates their oath will be held accountable,” he said.
Brinksman began working for the agency in 2020 and in September 2022 joined as a contractor to the same agency as a systems integration developer, according to the FBI affidavit. He held a Top Secret clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information.
His duties included transferring data between classified and unclassified systems, and he worked inside a secure facility that required badge swipes in and out.
‘I Also Accept Leaks’
The affidavit describes an ongoing personal relationship between Brinksman and a woman identified only as Individual 1, who calls her Substack an independent publication “[r]eporting on Congress, War, and political economy.”
A September fundraising post by the writer reportedly said she had “published reporting based on classified” agency assessments. She also commented publicly, “I also accept leaks.”
Investigators lay out a repeated pattern: a phone call with the writer, Brinksman opening a classified report from a restricted database, then an article with similar content on her Substack, often within a day or two.
On March 11, she called him at 8:41 a.m., and less than an hour later he opened a report marked top secret. She posted an article with similar content that same day.
An official with classification authority confirmed that the article contained information classified up to the top secret level. Similar sequences allegedly followed in May, July and August.
Phone records show more than 800 calls or attempted calls between the two so far in 2026.
“That is not carelessness. It is a betrayal of his oath and the American people who entrusted him to fulfill his duties honorably,” said John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department “will continue prosecuting individuals who leak classified information and put our national security at risk.”
FBI Director Kash Patel called protecting the nation’s secrets “a top counterintelligence priority of this FBI.”
The affidavit was filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, the Washington Examiner reported. The FBI’s Chicago field office is leading the investigation.
The Justice Department did not name the writer, who has not been charged, UPI noted. The charge carries up to 10 years in prison. A complaint is only an allegation, and Brinksman is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
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