TAMPA, Florida – FBI Director Kash Patel announced on Wednesday a former Army employee of the United States Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, has been arrested for allegedly leaking classified information to the news media.

“FBI and our partners have arrested a former SOCOM employee, who supported our top-level military warfighters, for allegedly transmitting classified information to a member of the media,” Patel said on X.

“Outstanding work by @FBICharlotte and the FBI Counterintelligence & Espionage Division – as well as our @TheJusticeDept partners.”

“Let this serve as a message to any would-be leakers: we’re working these cases, and we’re making arrests. This FBI will not tolerate those who seek to betray our country and put Americans in harm’s way.”

The Justice Department identified the alleged leaker as Courtney Williams, 40, of Wagram, North Carolina, who was arrested Tuesday and indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury.
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According to its website, Tampa-based SOCOM “develops, and employs, the world’s finest SOF to conduct global special operations and activities as part of the Joint Force, in concert with the U.S. Government Interagency, Allies, and Partners, to support persistent, networked, and distributed combatant command operations and campaigns against state and non-state actors all to protect and advance U.S. policies and objectives.”

The DOJ says: “As alleged, between 2022 and 2025, Williams repeatedly communicated with the journalist via telephone and text messages. During this period, Williams and the journalist had over 10 hours of telephone calls and exchanged more than 180 messages. In one such message, the journalist identified themselves as a journalist and stated that they sought information about the SMU [Special Military Unit] in support of an upcoming article and book. After these communications with Williams, the journalist published a book and article that named Williams as a source and attributed specific statements to her. Some of these statements contained classified national defense information. In addition to her disclosures to the journalist, Williams also made unauthorized disclosures of national defense information via her social media accounts.

“On the day the article and book were published, Williams exchanged several messages with the journalist. In one such message, Williams stated that she was ‘concerned about the amount of classified information being disclosed.’ In a separate message to a third party, Williams added that, ‘I might actually get arrested … for disclosing classified information.’

“In a subsequent message, Williams citied a statutory provision of the Espionage Act. And when asked how she knew that she may face legal consequences for her disclosures to the journalist, Williams responded, ‘I have known my entire career,’ adding that ‘they tell you everyday … 100 times a day.’ Finally, in a message to a different third party, Williams stated that she was ‘probably going to jail for life.'”

“Courtney Williams swore an oath to safeguard our nation’s secrets as an employee supporting a Special Military Unit of the Army, but she allegedly betrayed that oath by sharing classified information with a media outlet and putting our nation, our warfighters, and our allies at risk,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division.

“This indictment should serve as a stark warning to all current and former clearance holders thinking of violating their positions of trust. If you jeopardize our national security by disclosing classified information without authorization, the FBI will hold you accountable for your crimes.”

🚨Former Army Employee and Top Secret Clearance Holder Arrested and Charged with Leaking Classified National Defense Information

“Clearance holders accept a solemn obligation to protect the classified information entrusted to them,” said Assistant Attorney General for National… pic.twitter.com/10vzfpKBnx

— National Security Division, U.S. Dept of Justice (@DOJNatSec) April 8, 2026

“The tradecraft, tactics, and techniques used by the U.S. military unit in this case are classified and should be shared only with those with proper clearances and a need to know in order to protect American lives and safeguard classified National Defense information,” said Reid Davis, the FBI Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina. “These are serious accusations. Anyone divulging information they vowed to protect to a reporter for publication is reckless, self-serving and damages our nation’s security.”

Although unrelated to Operation Epic Fury, the arrest of Williams comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s revelation this week that someone had leaked information to the media about the two downed American airmen in Iran, both of whom have since been rescued.

“As you probably know, we didn’t talk about the first one for an hour, and then somebody leaked something, which we’ll hopefully find that leaker; we’re looking very hard to find that leaker, and talked about there’s somebody missing,” Trump told reporters Monday.

“They basically said that we have one, and there’s somebody missing. Well, they didn’t know there was somebody missing until this leaker gave the information!”

“So whoever it is, we think we’ll be able to find it out, because we’re going to go to the media company that released it. And we’re going to say, national security, give it up or go to jail.”

President Trump on an individual LEAKING to a media company that one of the aircrew of the F-15E that went down in Iran was still missing: “We have to find that leaker, because that’s a sick person… It’s national security. And the person that did the story will go to jail if he… pic.twitter.com/pM8eojqbDJ

— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) April 6, 2026

“There’s some things you can’t do. When they did that, all of a sudden, the entire country of Iran knew that there was a pilot that was somewhere on their land that was fighting for his life!” Trump added.

He continued: “Because a leaker leaked – because we have one – we rescued one, but there’s another one out there that we’re trying to get, actually, the country, Iran, put out.. offering a very big award for anybody that captures the pilot.”

“They put this mission, that man at great risk, and hundreds of people looking for him!”

Amit Segal, the high-profile political commentator and anchor for Israel’s Channel 12 news, stepped forward on his Telegram channel Monday and acknowledged his role in publishing the initial scoop about the downed U.S. fighter jet crew, as the Gateway Pundit reported.