Government employee held after attempt to share classified information with foreign country

Virginia-based Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick ordered that 28-year-old Nathan Laatsch be held pending a detention hearing scheduled for June 4.

Laatsch, an IT specialist employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) since 2019, appeared in court on Friday wearing street clothes, which were presumably the same clothes he wore when he was arrested the day before.

He was arrested after the FBI received a tip in March that someone was willing to provide classified information to a friendly foreign government.

An email to the FBI said that the person - later identified as Laatsch - didn't "agree or align with the values" of the Trump administration and would be willing to share classified information that he could access, including "completed intelligence products, some unprocessed intelligence, and other assorted classified documentation."

Laatsch communicated with an FBI agent, whom he believed to be a foreign government official, multiple times and would confirm that he was ready to share classified information that he transcribed onto a notepad at his desk, the DOJ said. He allegedly exfiltrated the information from his workspace multiple times over a three-day period in preparation.

Once he left, the DOJ said FBI agents retrieved a thumb drive from the area found to contain a message from Laatsch and multiple typed documents with information portion-marked for Secret or Top-Secret levels. His message allegedly indicated that he was sharing "a decent sample size" of classified information to demonstrate the types of things he has access to.

The following day, he specified that he was interested in "citizenship for your country" because he didn't expect things in America "to improve in the long term," the DOJ said. He also allegedly said he was "not opposed to other compensation," but not in a place where he needed "material compensation."

Laatsch was told on May 14 by the FBI agent that the "foreign government" was ready for additional classified information. Between May 15 and May 27, he transcribed more information and began to remove it from the building by folding the notes and hiding them in his clothing.

On Thursday, Laatsch arrived at a prearranged location in northern Virginia to drop the information off to the "foreign country." He was arrested once the FBI received the documents.

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.