US counter-terror analyst sentenced to 30 months for leaks

WASHINGTON: A former counter-terrorism analyst at the US Defence Intelligence Agency was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Thursday for leaking classified information to journalists, including details about foreign countries’ weapons systems.

Henry Kyle Frese, 31, of Alexandria, Virginia, pleaded guilty in February to transmitting top secret defense information to two journalists, one of whom he lived with.

"When this information was published, it was shared with all of our nation’s adversaries, creating a risk of exceptionally grave harm to the security of this country," Assistant Attorney General John Demers said in a statement.

The Justice Department said Frese leaked information to two unnamed journalists in 2018 and 2019. One news outlet, which was also not named, published eight articles containing classified information.

Frese searched restricted government computer systems at least 30 times in 2018 for information to pass on verbally to the two journalists, according to the Justice Department. He also sent some secret information via private messages on social media. The journalists involved appeared to work for CNBC and NBC News, according to US media.

CNBC, citing "sources with direct knowledge of US intelligence reports," reported in May 2018 that China had installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on the contested Spratly Islands.