We expect a lot from our armed forces, and we expect even more from the elites among those forces. That makes it all the more troubling when one of those elites is found to be passing along classified materials.
Case in point: A former Army special operations employee has been arrested and faces charges of communicating and transmitting classified national defense information. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel announced the arrest on his official X account.
🚨🚨 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.
Outstanding work by @FBICharlotte and the FBI Counterintelligence & Espionage Division…
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) April 8, 2026
The post continues:
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.
Note that Director Patel says “cases,” implying that this isn’t the only such case.
A local news source has more information:
Courtney Williams was charged on Wednesday due to allegations she provided classified information to a journalist. Williams signed a Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement when she was hired in 2010 and again when she left her job in 2015, according to the complaint.
The criminal complaint details communication between Williams and the journalist. While the complaint does not name him, Seth Harp wrote a book and an accompanying article that highlight Williams throughout.
The book is called The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces. While it’s not clear from what we know that Seth Harp is the person that WIlliams leaked the information to directly, there appears to be a lot of smoke for there not to be a fire there somewhere.
According to the complaint, Williams spent at least 10 hours on the phone with Harp and exchanged approximately 180 text messages with him between 2022 and 2024.
One message from Harp discusses the exchange of data. “Just wanted to let you know I dropped this in the mail today for the thumb drive. It’s stamped and addressed and ready to be sent back, no need to go to the post office!”
The complaint also indicates Williams saved documents on her computer with file names “Batch 1 for Reporter,” “Batch 2 for Reporter” and that there were at least 10 batches of documents that Williams intended to provide to Harp, including personnel documents from her time with the Special Military Unit (SMU)
While reviewing the article during the investigation, the complaint says it “determined that it contained information that is properly classified as SECRET.” It continues, saying “The classified information comprised, in part, specific Tactics, Techniques & Procedures (TTPs) utilized by this (SMU) to execute sensitive missions.”
Leaking classified material is a serious offense.
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Some information from the complaint makes it sound as though Williams wasn’t happy with the way the information she gave to Harp was presented, although that does no excuse or mitigate any charges she will face for leaking that information.
In the complaint, Williams texted Harp about concerns she had about the article.
“Other than a few factual errors, I would definitely have been concerned with the amount of classified information being disclosed. I thought the things I was telling you so you could have a better general understanding how the [SMU] was set up or operated would not be published and it feels like an entire TTP was sent out in my name giving them a chance to legally persecute me and probably [Person 1].
The complaint also indicates Williams showed concern to her mother about this, saying, “I might actually get arrested, and I don’t even get a free copy of the book.” Williams indicated her concerns were “for disclosing classified information.”
When you dine at the devil’s table, you don’t get to choose the menu. If these allegations are true, then Courtney Williams faces serious charges; this was not only a breach of faith with the soldiers she supported, not only a violation of not one but two non-disclosure agreements she reportedly signed, but a betrayal of the trust placed in her by her country.
It’s not yet known when Williams’ case will go to trial. Stay tuned.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated post-publication for clarity.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America’s military.
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