A US Army soldier from Texas is accused of trying to trade classified tank secrets for Russian citizenship. Federal authorities say Taylor Adam Lee, a 22-year-old service member stationed at Fort Bliss, attempted to hand over sensitive information about America's main battle tank, the M1A2 Abrams, per CBS News. Lee, who held a top-secret security clearance, allegedly transmitted technical information about the tank online in June and, in July, handed an SD card filled with data to someone he believed was a representative of the Russian government. Lee also allegedly delivered a piece of tank hardware to a storage unit in El Paso on July 31, later messaging "Mission accomplished" to his contact, per the Army Times.
In other writings, Lee allegedly claimed he would "volunteer to assist the Russian federation" and noted "the USA is not happy with me for trying to expose their weaknesses." His Wednesday arrest came after a warrant was filed in federal court in El Paso. The Justice Department charged him with attempted transmission of national defense information to a foreign adversary under the Espionage Act and attempted export of controlled technical data without a license under the Arms Export Control Act. The case comes as US authorities warn of online attempts by foreign agents to recruit American personnel. CNN reports the tank secrets would've been useful to Russia as "the US has provided a version of the tank to Ukraine."
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