Defense Dept linguist accused of passing classified info about DoD computer systems and US intel assets to Hizballah

by Robert Spencer: Was Mariam Taha Thompson vetted properly when she was hired? Almost certainly not. To have probed her sentiments regarding jihad would have been “Islamophobic.” What’s more, the U.S. government and military are still largely committed to the idea that Islam is a religion peace that has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism. This soothing fantasy would have guided even the way suspicions of espionage are handled. It’s a wonder that she has been charged at all.

“DOD linguist charged with giving classified info to Lebanese national with ties to Hezbollah: DOJ,” by Bradford Betz, Fox News, March 4, 2020:
A linguist working for the Department of Defense was arrested last week on charges of giving top-secret information, including details on American intelligence assets, to a Lebanese national with ties to Hezbollah, a group designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization.

Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, who had top-secret government security clearance, was arrested Thursday on the espionage-related allegation at an unidentified U.S. military facility overseas, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors accused Thompson, formerly of Rochester, Minn., of turning over information that placed intelligence assets and American military personnel in danger.

Prosecutors said that during a six-week period starting in late December, when U.S. airstrikes targeted Iranian-backed forces in Iraq, Thompson repeatedly accessed dozens of files, including the names of human assets, their pictures and information detailing what these sources provided the U.S. government.

Prosecutors said that when officials searched her living quarters, they found a handwritten note in Arabic under her mattress with information about DOD computer systems and warning of a DOD target.

Prosecutors said she had given the information in the note to a co-conspirator who worked for the Lebanese government and “has apparent connections” to Hezbollah….---------------------
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch. He is the author of nineteen books, including the New York Times bestsellers and he is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.

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