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Former US Army contractor charged with sharing classified secrets online

Federal authorities arrested James Thomas Ashbacher for allegedly posting classified military information on social media and stealing night-vision gear from an Army facility.

FTMQ News, written by our newsroom0 views

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Picture: UPI

A former United States government contractor has been arrested after allegedly sharing classified military secrets on social media, federal prosecutors said. UPI and JNS.org both reported that James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, of Spring Lake, North Carolina, was taken into custody following a federal indictment. The indictment accuses him of unlawfully transmitting and keeping national defense information. [1][4]

UPI reported that federal officials arrested Ashbacher on Tuesday following an FBI investigation. In addition to the leak allegations, officials said Ashbacher stole night-vision equipment from an Army Special Operations facility. [1]

Ashbacher began working in 2021 for a private company that provided security and emergency management services at Fort Bragg, according to UPI. Prosecutors said his position at the facility gave him access to sensitive military information. [1]

The case follows another recent prosecution involving leaked defense secrets. As FTMQ News reported earlier, FBI agents arrested government contractor Ian A. Brinksman in Washington on October 23, 2026, after he allegedly passed classified national defense information to a romantic partner who published it on Substack. [7]

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In short

  • James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, was arrested by the FBI on federal defense information charges.
  • Prosecutors allege Ashbacher shared classified military information on social media.
  • Officials accused Ashbacher of stealing night-vision equipment from an Army Special Operations facility.
  • Ashbacher worked for a private security contractor at Fort Bragg starting in 2021.

Sources

Every paragraph above points to the numbered items it rests on. Read the originals here.

  1. [1]Former Army contractor charged with leaking military informationUPI, 1h ago (the report this story comes from)
  2. [2]Former British Army chiefs warn of lack of urgency in defence spending plansNation.Cymru, 13h ago
  3. [3]Former Army friend brings professional football expertise to Totton & ElingAdvertiser and Times, 1d ago
  4. [4]Former US Army contractor charged with posting military secrets to social mediaJNS.org, 1d ago
  5. [5]Former Army Official Pleads Guilty in Defense Contract Bribery Scheme and Auria Adds 78 New Jobs in VirginiaSecurity Clearance Jobs, 1d ago

Background

  1. [6]List of former equipment of the Finnish Army on Wikipedia
  2. [7]US government contractor arrested over classified information leak FTMQ News, 8d ago
  3. [8]Pete Hegseth fires top Pentagon strategist over classified media leaks FTMQ News, 2d ago

Our newsroom writes these reports with the help of software, from the 8 sources listed and nothing else, and checks them against those sources. Facts can still be wrong or move on; the originals are the record. Spotted a mistake? Write to daniel@monsterkong.com.

Related from FTMQ News

Earlier reports of ours on the same people and subjects.

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