Leaking Classified Israel Plan Leads To Sentence For Former CIA Analyst

VIENNA, VA — A Vienna resident who formerly worked as a CIA analyst was sentenced Wednesday for a leak of classified information about Israel.

Asif William Rahman, 34, of Vienna, was indicted by a grand jury on Nov. 7, 2024, and he was arrested by the FBI at work on Nov. 12, 2024. Rahman pleaded guilty to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to the national defense. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 37 months in prison.

The sentence relates to unlawfully sharing classified national defense information with unauthorized people, including through public posting on social media in October 2024. Rahman had been an employee of the CIA since 2016 and had a top secret security clearance with access to the federal government's Sensitive Compartmented Information.

Prosecutors say on Oct. 17, 2024 Rahman accessed and printed secret documents with national defense information about a U.S. foreign ally and planned action against a foreign adversary. ABC News reported that the information was about Israel planning a strike on Iran.

After accessing the documents, Rahman took photos of them and gave them to people who were not permitted to access them. The next day, the documents appeared on social media platforms with classification markings.

After he shared the classified documents, prosecutors say Rahman took measures on his personal electronic devices to conceal his own opinions on U.S. policy and made entries with false narratives on his activity. He also destroyed multiple electronic devices, including his mobile device and an internet router he used to send the classified information and photos of classified documents. The devices were thrown out in public trash bins in an attempt to evade investigations.

Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division said the FBI will investigate anyone who discloses classified information without permission.

"By stealing and divulging classified information and then attempting to conceal his crimes, Asif Rahman not only violated the law; he also betrayed his oath as a government employee and his responsibility to the American people," said Rozhavsky. "Now he will pay the price for putting American lives and U.S. national security at risk."