{"id":62074,"date":"2026-10-30T08:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T15:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074"},"modified":"2026-10-30T08:33:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T15:33:25","slug":"james-ashbacher-classified-military-leak-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074","title":{"rendered":"Former Contractor Accused of Posting Military Secrets on Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\"\"
Credit: Army Photo Military File<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A former government contractor with a top-secret security clearance was arrested Tuesday on charges of sharing classified military materials on social media, unlawfully keeping national defense information at home and stealing Army night vision goggles, officials announced Friday<\/span><\/p>\n

James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, of Spring Lake, North Carolina, faces charges of unlawfully transmitting and retaining national defense information and theft of government property, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

An indictment is an accusation. Ashbacher is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Quick Fact Checklist<\/strong><\/span>
\n\u2611 Defendant:<\/strong> James Thomas Ashbacher, 37.<\/span>
\n\u2611 Residence:<\/strong> Spring Lake, North Carolina.<\/span>
\n\u2611 Employment:<\/strong> Former government contractor supporting Army Special Operations Command.<\/span>
\n\u2611 Clearance:<\/strong> Top secret with access to sensitive compartmented information.<\/span>
\n\u2611 Charges:<\/strong> Unlawful transmission and retention of national defense information; theft of government property.<\/span>
\n\u2611 Allegations:<\/strong> Shared classified military materials online and kept additional information at home.<\/span>
\n\u2611 Equipment:<\/strong> Investigators reported recovering missing Army night vision goggles.<\/span>
\n\u2611 Investigation:<\/strong> FBI Charlotte, assisted by Army criminal investigators.<\/span>
\n\u2611 Status:<\/strong> Charges are allegations; defendant presumed innocent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beginning around 2021, Ashbacher worked for a private company that provided security and emergency management services at the U.S. Army Special Operations Command facility at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, according to the indictment. His job required a top-secret security clearance with access to sensitive compartmented information.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege Ashbacher photographed and removed videos and photographs depicting classified military operations without authorization, the<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo by Spc. David Poleski 1st Armored Division<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

n transmitted the materials to a social media site. Other users later reposted the materials on a second platform.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a private message, Ashbacher asked a social media user to remove some of the materials, saying he was \u201ctrying to do some damage control,\u201d according to the indictment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Investigators searching his residence also found a classified award document containing additional national defense information, authorities said. They also recovered a night vision goggle system assigned to a military unit within Army Special Operations Command that had been reported missing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The FBI\u2019s Charlotte Field Office is investigating, with assistance from Army criminal investigators.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, is accused of posting classified military materials online and stealing Army night vision goggles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Contractor Accused of Posting Military Secrets on Social Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, is accused of posting classified military materials online and stealing Army night vision goggles.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Contractor Accused of Posting Military Secrets on Social Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, is accused of posting classified military materials online and stealing Army night vision goggles.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Justice Notebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-30T15:33:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Operation_Lethal_Eagle_IV_19APR24_DSC06510.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"330\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"284\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=62074#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=62074\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Raul\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\"},\"headline\":\"Former Contractor Accused of Posting Military Secrets on Social Media\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-30T15:33:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=62074\"},\"wordCount\":360,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=62074#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Operation_Lethal_Eagle_IV_19APR24_DSC06510.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"American Justice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=62074#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=62074\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=62074\",\"name\":\"Former Contractor Accused of Posting Military Secrets on Social Media\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=62074#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=62074#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Operation_Lethal_Eagle_IV_19APR24_DSC06510.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-30T15:33:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, is accused of posting classified military materials online and stealing Army night vision goggles.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=62074\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=62074#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Operation_Lethal_Eagle_IV_19APR24_DSC06510.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Operation_Lethal_Eagle_IV_19APR24_DSC06510.jpg\",\"width\":330,\"height\":284},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"description\":\""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"width\":675,\"height\":231,\"caption\":\"American Justice Notebook\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\",\"name\":\"Raul\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Raul\"},\"description\":\"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former Contractor Accused of Posting Military Secrets on Social Media","description":"James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, is accused of posting classified military materials online and stealing Army night vision goggles.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former Contractor Accused of Posting Military Secrets on Social Media","og_description":"James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, is accused of posting classified military materials online and stealing Army night vision goggles.","og_url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074","og_site_name":"American Justice Notebook","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook","article_published_time":"2026-10-30T15:33:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":330,"height":284,"url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Operation_Lethal_Eagle_IV_19APR24_DSC06510.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Raul","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Raul","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074"},"author":{"name":"Raul","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0"},"headline":"Former Contractor Accused of Posting Military Secrets on Social Media","datePublished":"2026-10-30T15:33:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074"},"wordCount":360,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Operation_Lethal_Eagle_IV_19APR24_DSC06510.jpg","articleSection":["American Justice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074","name":"Former Contractor Accused of Posting Military Secrets on Social Media","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Operation_Lethal_Eagle_IV_19APR24_DSC06510.jpg","datePublished":"2026-10-30T15:33:25+00:00","description":"James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, is accused of posting classified military materials online and stealing Army night vision goggles.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=62074#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Operation_Lethal_Eagle_IV_19APR24_DSC06510.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Operation_Lethal_Eagle_IV_19APR24_DSC06510.jpg","width":330,"height":284},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","name":"American Justice Notebook","description":""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization","name":"American Justice Notebook","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","width":675,"height":231,"caption":"American Justice Notebook"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0","name":"Raul","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","caption":"Raul"},"description":"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.","sameAs":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62074"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62080,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62074\/revisions\/62080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}