Judge bars releasing CIA agent who leaked Israel’s plans to attack Iran

A federal court agreed with the prosecution that Asif Rahman posed a danger to the community and a flight risk if he was allowed pre-trial detention at home.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

A federal judge rejected Wednesday defense calls for the pre-trial release of a CIA employee charged with leaking Israel’s plans to attack Iran in October.

Asif Rahman will be standing trial on two counts of violating the Espionage Act by willfully retaining classified information and transmitting it to an unauthorized person on or about October 17.

A lower court had permitted his release to home detention with GPS monitoring, but in a one-hour proceeding, U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles overturned the decision, siding with the prosecution that Rahman posed a flight risk and a danger to the community.

“It is hard to overstate what other circumstances present graver risks of danger to human life than unilaterally deciding to transmit information related to plans for kinetic military action between two countries,” prosecutors wrote in court papers.

Giles accepted their position that by virtue of his former position, Rahman still possesses top secret information that is relevant in Israel’s ongoing war with Iranian terror proxy Hamas, which he could reveal to the detriment of the U.S. and its closest Middle Eastern ally.

“I take the government’s point that this is a kinetic situation. It’s a volatile situation … and that creates a different danger,” she said.

“It’s possible to limit someone’s computer access, but you can’t stop him from talking,” Giles added after the defense had raised the possibility of denying him all access to electronic devices.

Israel had reportedly delayed its retaliatory strike due to the leak, following Iran’s second attempt earlier in the month to wreak massive havoc on the Jewish state by launching nearly 200 missiles and UAVs at the country.

Rahman allegedly had leaked documents, including satellite photos of possible Israeli targets in Iran that had been prepared by the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, to a Telegram account run out of the Islamic Republic.

The information also contained a report by the National Security Agency on Israeli military preparations for the mission, including what air force planes and missiles could be used.

The Israelis ultimately carried out the attack at the end of October and destroyed most of Iran’s advanced aerial defense systems, as well as an active top-secret nuclear weapons research facility.

Prosecutors also noted that since Rahman comes from a very wealthy family, it would be relatively easy for him to flee the country if he were to await trial at home.

The suspect’s wealthy background also strengthened the prosecution’s claim that his motives must be ideological rather than financial.

Rahman was arrested on November 12 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where he was a member of the American embassy staff.

The federal agents found eight pages of notes on him, including a “to-do list,” much of which was encrypted and has yet to be deciphered. Another list openly enumerated categories such as “Contingencies” and “Run.”

The 34-year-old agent has pled not guilty to the charges, and his lawyers have already said that they would appeal Giles’ decision.