A Virginia government employee was arrested Thursday for allegedly trying to hand over classified U.S. intelligence to a foreign government.
Nathan Laatsch, 28, worked as an IT specialist for the Defense Intelligence Agency. He had been with the agency since 2019 and held a top-secret clearance.
According to the DOJ, the FBI got a tip in March 2025. Someone was offering to share classified materials with a “friendly” foreign nation.
The tipster, later identified as Laatsch, said he didn’t agree with the Trump administration’s values. He claimed access to finished and raw intelligence reports and other sensitive data.
Laatsch then began communicating with an undercover FBI agent posing as a foreign official. He confirmed his willingness to share classified materials and began copying it by hand.
On May 1, he dropped off a thumb drive at a park in northern Virginia. Inside: secret and top secret files, plus a message saying this was a “decent sample size” of what he had access to.
Days later, Laatsch messaged the agent asking for something in return — namely, foreign citizenship. He said he didn’t see a good future in America.
He added that he was open to other forms of compensation but wasn’t desperate for money. In late May, he continued transcribing classified notes and smuggled them out in his clothing.
Laatsch was arrested on June 20 after arriving at another drop site. The FBI seized the documents and took him into custody.