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J. Scott Applewhite

A contract employee for the State and Justice departments has been charged with espionage, U.S. prosecutors announced Thursday, accused of passing on classified information since August 2022 to an official associated with Ethiopia’s intelligence service.

Abraham Teklu Lemma, 50, of Silver Spring, Md., was charged in an<b> </b>Aug. 23 complaint unsealed Thursday on three counts: conspiracy; gathering or delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government; and unauthorized possession and willful retention of national defense information, Justice Department and FBI officials said. The first two counts are punishable by up to life in prison and the last count by up to 10 years.

An attorney for Lemma could not immediately be identified.

In a statement announcing the charges, the U.S. attorney’s office and FBI field office in Washington said Lemma is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Ethiopia who had a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance and access to classified systems as an IT administrator for the State Department and as a management analyst for the Justice Department. He was arrested on Aug. 24, but a scheduled bond hearing Thursday before a federal judge in Washington was not held, and no information was immediately available on the court’s public docket system.

A charging affidavit released by the Justice Department alleges that since February 2022, Lemma copied classified secret and top-secret information from more than 100 intelligence reports and removed information from secure facilities without authorization. In August and September of that year, Lemma allegedly transmitted classified national defense information to the official associated with Ethiopia’s intelligence service, including satellite imagery and information related to Eritrean activities in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

Charging papers did not name Ethiopia, but accused Lemma of spying for a country where he was previously a citizen, had family ties and had recently visited. An FBI affidavit also described military activities consistent with those of armed rebels battling allied Ethiopian and Eritrean government soldiers at the time.

The State Department’s intelligence bureau discovered the leaks after an internal security review prompted by the disclosure of hundreds of classified documents earlier this year. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/13/jack-teixeira-discord-leaked-documents/" target=_blank>Jack Teixeira</a>, a computer network technician with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, has been charged in that leak, which prompted internal security reviews at other government agencies aimed at strengthening security procedures and preventing future breaches, according to officials familiar with the matter.

“During this review, information was uncovered indicating that a Department of State information technology contractor may have removed, retained, and transmitted classified national defense information without authorization,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. Miller called the review “self-initiated” and said it encompassed the department’s network containing TS/SCI information, with the goal of finding “opportunities to strengthen how we safeguard data.”

Teixeira had access to a similar network for classified information within the Defense Department, according to U.S. officials. While he was not an analyst and had no particular need to know the information he is accused of disclosing, the nature of his job, and his security clearance, gave him access to a bounty of secrets, including about military operations in Ukraine.

According to the FBI, Lemma communicated with the foreign official by encrypted chat, where they discussed rebel military activity and Lemma sent photos of a “military compound.” The official advised Lemma in those chats that “[i]t is great to identify the forward deployed command centers and logistic centers.”

In another communication, the foreign official stated, “[i]t’s time to continue ur support,” and Lemma responded, “Roger that!” according to the complaint. The foreign official allegedly praised Lemma’s efforts, stating “[a]lways this beautiful country have [sic] some special people who scarify [sic] their life to protect our proud history. You always remembered. It doesn’t matter the results.”

The FBI said an authorized search of Lemma’s electronic accounts on non-secure networks confirmed that he possessed classified national defense information including digital photographic copies, notes and maps that he sent to the foreign official.

On four days in August,  Lemma was observed at work reviewing classified intelligence reports outside of his authorized access, using the State Department’s classified computer system, and accessing non-department classified portals, either writing information on sheets of paper he folded and carried out of the department in his pockets or copying and pasting information into documents he burned into a CD/DVD disc and was observed taking home with him, according to the FBI.

Most recently, on Aug. 18, State Department records indicate that Lemma completed approximately 10 downloads, most of which were classified at the top-secret or secret level.

The FBI said Lemma was also seen angrily discouraging a Maryland bank branch employee from filing a currency transaction report when he attempted to deposit more than $11,700 on July 15, shortly after he had copied without authorization at least 16 intelligence reports. The transaction was part of more than $55,000 in deposits dating to the beginning of 2022 that a case agent deemed suspicious.

Lemma previously worked for another government agency identified in court papers<b> </b>only as “U.S. Agency 1” from November 2020 to December 2021, in addition to working during evening hours as a State Department bureau of intelligence and research help-desk technician and IT administrator, and as a daytime contract management analyst since May 2022 for the Justice Department.

Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, National Emmy Award nominee, Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service, Ursula and Gilbert Farfel Prize for Excellence in Investigative Reporting, American Immigration Lawyers Association Media Leadership Award,

Harvard University, B.A. in English

Spencer S. Hsu is an investigative reporter, two-time Pulitzer finalist and national Emmy Award nominee. Hsu has covered homeland security, immigration, Virginia politics and Congress.

Spencer Hsu

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