ALEXANDRIA, Va. – An IT specialist employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was arrested today for attempting to transmit national defense information to an officer or agent of a foreign government.
Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 28, of Alexandria, was arrested in northern Virginia and will make his initial court appearance tomorrow.
According to court documents, Laatsch became a civilian employee of the DIA in 2019, where he works with the Insider Threat Division and holds a Top Secret security clearance. In March, the FBI commenced an operation after receiving a tip that an individual – now known to be Laatsch – offered to provide classified information to a friendly foreign government. In that email, the sender wrote that he did not “agree or align with the values of this administration” and was therefore “willing to share classified information” to which he had access, including “completed intelligence products, some unprocessed intelligence, and other assorted classified documentation.”
After multiple communications with an FBI agent – who Laatsch allegedly believed to be an official of the foreign government – Laatsch began transcribing classified information to a notepad at his desk and, over the course of approximately three days, repeatedly exfiltrated the information from his workspace. Laatsch subsequently confirmed to the FBI agent that he was prepared to transmit the information.
The FBI implemented an operation at a public park in northern Virgina where Laatsch believed he would deposit the classified information for the foreign government to retrieve. On May 1, FBI surveillance observed Laatsch proceed to the specified location and deposit an item. Following Laatsch’s departure, the FBI retrieved the item, which was a thumb drive later found to contain a message from Laatsch and multiple typed documents, each containing information that was portion-marked up to the Secret or Top Secret levels. The message from Laatsch indicated that he had chosen to include “a decent sample size” of classified information to “decently demonstrate the range of types of products” to which he had access.
After receiving confirmation that the thumb drive had been received, on May 7, Laatsch allegedly sent a message to the FBI agent, which indicated Laatsch was seeking something from the foreign government in return for continuing to provide classified information. The next day, Laatsch specified that he was interested in “citizenship for your country” because he did not “expect[] things here to improve in the long term.” Although he said he was “not opposed to other compensation,” he was not in a position where he needed to seek “material compensation.”
On May 14, the FBI agent advised Laatsch that it was prepared to receive additional classified information. Between May 15 and May 27, Laatsch again repeatedly transcribed multiple pages of notes while logged into his classified workstation, folded the notes, and exfiltrated the classified information in his clothing.
On May 29, Laatsch arrived at a prearranged location in northern Virginia, where Laatsch again allegedly attempted to transmit multiple classified documents to the foreign country. Laatsch was arrested upon the FBI’s receipt of the documents.
Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; Roman Rozhavsky, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division; Steven J. Jensen, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office; and Lee M. Russ, Executive Director of Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) Office of Special Projects, made the announcement.
The FBI Washington Field Office is investigating the case, with valuable assistance provided by the U.S. Air Force OSI.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorneys Christina Clark and Mark Murphy of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
