Intel Agency Employee Charged With Trying to Give Classified Docs to Foreign Government

FBI Director Kash Patel said the case ‘underscores the persistent risk of insider threats.’

The Department of Justice logo on a podium before a press conference at the Justice Department in Washington on May 6, 2025. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo

An IT specialist employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was arrested on May 29 in Northern Virginia and charged with attempting to transmit classified information to an officer or agent of a foreign government, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.

Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 28, of Alexandria, Virginia, was arrested while allegedly trying to transmit multiple classified documents to a person he believed was a foreign government official, but who was actually an undercover FBI agent.

The department did not state which country Laatsch believed the individual to be from but described it as a “friendly foreign government.”

In a statement posted to social media platform X, FBI Director Kash Patel said Laatsch’s case “underscores the persistent risk of insider threats.”

“The FBI remains steadfast in protecting our national security and thanks our law enforcement partners for their critical support,” Patel said.

Laatsch was hired by the DIA in 2019 and worked with the Insider Threat Division, where he held a top secret security clearance, the DOJ said in a statement.

The FBI began investigating him in March 2025 after receiving a tip that an individual offered to provide classified information to a foreign government.

Laatsch allegedly wrote in an email to the government representative that he did not “agree or align with the values of this administration” and was willing to transmit sensitive materials that he had access to, including “completed intelligence products, some unprocessed intelligence, and other assorted classified documentation.”

The DOJ said Laatsch communicated multiple times with an FBI agent he believed to be a foreign government official and began transcribing classified information taken from his workspace onto a notepad over the course of about three days.

The DOJ said he later confirmed to the agent that he was prepared to transmit the information and made plans to leave it in a public park in Northern Virginia so the foreign government could retrieve it.

Laatsch deposited a thumb drive at the location on or around May 1, according to the DOJ. It was retrieved by the FBI and allegedly found to contain a message from Laatsch and several typed documents marked “Secret” and “Top Secret.”

Laatsch Sought Foreign Citizenship, DOJ Says

After receiving confirmation that the thumb drive had been received, Laatsch allegedly sent a message to the undercover FBI agent stating that he was seeking “citizenship for your country” in exchange for continuing to provide classified information.

The DOJ said he told the agent that he did not “expect things here to improve in the long term.”

Between May 15 and May 27, Laatsch again repeatedly transcribed multiple pages of notes while logged into his classified workstation to hand over to the individual he believed to be a representative of the foreign government, the DOJ said.

He was subsequently arrested at the same prearranged location in northern Virginia on May 29 upon the FBI’s receipt of the documents.

Laatsch is set to make his initial court appearance in the Eastern District of Virginia on May 30.

It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

The latest incident comes after the FBI confirmed in April that it had begun using polygraph tests—commonly known as lie detectors—while probing internal leaks at the law enforcement agency, including information about immigration enforcement raids.

The leaks have drawn condemnation from President Donald Trump, who declared in an April memorandum that “Where a Government employee improperly discloses sensitive information for the purposes of personal enrichment and undermining our foreign policy, national security, and Government effectiveness—all ultimately designed to sow chaos and distrust in Government—this conduct could properly be characterized as treasonous.”

The Epoch Times has contacted the DOJ for further comment.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.