Ex-CIA analyst who admitted leaking docs about Israel strike on Iran gets 37 months in prison
An ex-CIA analyst was sentenced to more than three years in prison after leaking top-secret documents about Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran. Asif William Rahman, 34, admitted to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information in January. He had absconded with records from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency last October, revealing Israel’s intentions to launch airstrikes in response to an Iranian missile attack.
Rahman, a CIA employee since 2016, shared the stolen information on social media platforms, prompting Israel to postpone its attack. US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles sentenced Rahman to three years and one month in federal prison, which was less than what the government had requested. The US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, stated that Rahman had violated his position of trust and jeopardized national security by illegally accessing and transmitting top-secret documents.
The Justice Department revealed that Rahman had taken the documents from the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Oct. 17, 2024, photographed them at home, and shared them with others before destroying evidence of his actions. The documents, which contained intelligence from satellite images of an Israeli base, were leaked on social media platforms, causing Israeli officials to delay their attack on Iran.
Rahman continued to access and print classified National Defense Information until his arrest in November 2024. He had disclosed secret and top-secret documents in Virginia in the spring of 2024 and leaked another batch of classified documents in the fall of the same year. Rahman accepted responsibility for his actions in court, acknowledging that there was no excuse for his behavior.
His attorneys attributed Rahman’s actions to family-related grief and the trauma from his assignment in Iraq, exacerbated by Israel’s conflict with Hamas. The case serves as a warning to individuals who prioritize personal goals over national allegiance. Rahman’s unauthorized disclosure of classified information compromised US national security and put lives at risk.
