PICTURED: Air Force contractor David Slater accused of giving top secret ... trends now
This is the Air Force contractor accused of spilling military secrets about Russia's war in Ukraine to an Ukrainian girlfriend on an online dating site.
Retired Army lieutenant colonel David Franklin Slater, 63, was arrested Saturday on charges of illegally disclosing national defense information and conspiracy. He plead not guilty to all three charges on Tuesday and is set to be released from jail on Wednesday pending trial.
He was assigned to the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and had Top Secret security clearance from August 2021 until April 2022, attending briefings between February and April 2022 about Russia's war with Ukraine, the Justice Department said.
Despite having signed paperwork pledging not to disclose classified information, he allegedly intentionally and improperly shared details about military targets and Russian capabilities on an online messaging dating platform with an unindicted co-conspirator who claimed to be a woman living in Ukraine.
The co-conspirator is referred to as Slater's 'secret informant love' and described him as her 'secret agent.'
Retired Army lieutenant colonel David Franklin Slater, 63, was arrested Saturday on charges of illegally disclosing national defense information and conspiracy
He was assigned to the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and had Top Secret security clearance from August 2021 until April 2022
Slater showed an interest for eastern European women on his social media account
Court documents show she showed a keen interest in how the war was progressing and what any future plans might be. At least nine messages were identified by authorities where the woman asks for specific details about the military operation.
'American Intelligence says that already 100 percent of Russian troops are located on the territory of Ukraine. Do you think this information can be trusted?' the woman asks on March 7.
Four days later, she is seen asking specifics about data shown in one of the offices.
'Dear, what is shown on the screens in the special room?? It is very interesting,' she writes.
'By the way, you were the first to tell me that NATO members are traveling by train and only now (already evening) this was announced on our news. You are my secret informant love! How were your meetings? Successfully?' the woman confirms.
One week later, the woman, supposedly in Ukraine writes: 'Beloved Dave, do NATO and Biden have a secret plan to help us?'
She later compliments Dave for providing such detailed intelligence information.
'Dave, it's great that you get information about
