Former Army employee charged with leaking classified info to journalist
NBC News • • general
Key Points:
- The FBI arrested former Army employee Courtney Williams, 40, from North Carolina, charging her with leaking classified national defense information to a journalist between 2022 and 2025.
- Williams held a top secret clearance from 2010 to 2016 and allegedly communicated extensively with journalist Seth Harp, who named her in both a Politico Magazine article and a book published on August 12, 2025.
- The published works detail Williams’ allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination while working at Fort Bragg with Delta Force, which led to retaliation and the loss of her security clearance.
- Harp defended Williams as a whistleblower exposing gender discrimination in the military, claiming the indictment is retaliation rather than a measure to protect classified information.
- Williams’ arrest follows recent tensions around leaks and media coverage of national security issues, including President Donald Trump’s recent threats to jail journalists over leaked information.
