DOD Contractor Accused of Sharing Military Secrets With Hezbollah

Federal prosecutors have charged Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, with providing classified information to a Lebanese national with ties to Hezbollah.

The information allegedly shared by the contract linguist could put intelligence assets and American military personnel in danger.  

CNBC’s Dan Mangan has more:

Authorities said Thompson shared the true names of intelligence sources with a co-conspirator, a Lebanese national in whom she had a romantic interest.”

That person had a relative who worked for the Lebanese government, and also “has apparent connections to” Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group in Lebanon, which the State Department has designated a terrorist organization, according to the Justice Department.

The linguist, court records say, confessed her actions after she was arrested, and claimed she provided information to her co-conspirator at the request of that person.

“By compromising the identities of these human assets, Thompson placed the lives of the human assets and U.S. military personnel in grave danger,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

Before her arrest, Thompson held Top Secret security clearances.