A 63-year-old retired US Army Colonel David Franklin Slater, formerly employed by US Strategic Command (Stratcom) until 2022, has been charged with unlawfully sharing classified information via a foreign dating website. Stratcom oversees the US nuclear missile arsenal.
Slater was arrested on Saturday (March 2).
He is set to appear in court on Tuesday (March 5) to face charges of illegally transmitting documents that authorities claim “could be used to the injury of the United States”.
According to the documents, Slater allegedly shared insights from classified Stratcom briefings concerning Russian offensive in Ukraine with an individual he believed to be a woman residing in Ukraine.
The prosecution contends that Slater was frequently questioned in message exchanges about confidential US national defence secrets.
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In one message dated March 11, the contact inquired, “Dear, what is shown on the screens in the special room?? It is very interesting.”
Later, on March 23, the same contact referred to Slater as “my secret agent” after requesting information about a specific country, the details of which have been redacted in the published documents.
Messages such as “My sweet Dave, thanks for the valuable information,” and “you are my secret informant love!” were allegedly exchanged in subsequent communications.
What does it mean?
The documents do not specify the identity of the person Slater was in contact with or the name of the foreign dating website involved. However, the FBI and Air Force Office of Special Investigations have conducted the investigation.
US Attorney Susan Lehr for the District of Nebraska said in a statement: “Certain responsibilities are incumbent to individuals with access to Top Secret information,” raising concerns about whether Slater betrayed these responsibilities.
The retired colonel faces charges of conspiracy and two counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information, potentially resulting in a prison term of up to 10 years if found guilty.
The case coincides with another incident where a US airman from the Massachusetts Air National Guard, Jack Teixeira, pleaded guilty to six counts of illegally retaining and transmitting US defence information.
Teixeira could face up to 16 years in prison.
