A Virginia government employee was arrested Thursday after trying to share confidential information with foreign government officials or agents, the Justice Department announced.
Nathan Laatsch, a 28-year-old IT expert who has been employed by defense intelligence agencies since 2019, was arrested in March 2025 after receiving a tip in March 2025 willing to provide confidential information to friendly foreign governments.
The Justice Department said Laatsch is a civilian employee of the DIA's Insider Threat Division and has the highest confidential security permit.
An email to the FBI said the person (later identified as Laatsch) did not “agree or reach an agreement with the Trump administration’s values” and was willing to share confidential information he could access, including “completed intelligence products, some unprocessed intelligence, and various other classified documents.”
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An IT specialist in Northern Virginia was held in jail after FBI agents shared confidential information with officials who believed were foreign governments. (iStock)
The Justice Department said Laatsch communicated with FBI agents, who believed he was a foreign government official and confirmed that he was ready to share confidential information he transcribed to notepad on his desk. He allegedly deleted the information from the workspace several times over a three-day period.
The Justice Department said the FBI has set up an operation in Northern Virginia Park where Los Angeles will store confidential information "for foreign governments to retrieve." The FBI observed him storing one at a designated location around May 1.
The Justice Department said once he left, FBI agents retrieved a thumb drive from the area containing messages from Laatsch and multiple typing documents with information sections for secrets or top-level confidentiality levels. His information allegedly indicates that he is sharing a “decent sample size” of confidential information to prove the type of things he can use.
Nathan Laatsch, 28, was arrested after trying to share confidential information with foreign governments because he allegedly did not "agree or have the values of Trump administrators." The Justice Department said. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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On May 7, after Laatsch learned of retrieving the thumb drive, he allegedly sent a message to the undercover agent, which seemed to say he was looking for something in exchange for providing information.
The Department of Justice said the next day he designated himself to be interested in “citizenship of your country” because he didn’t expect nothing to happen in the United States in the long run.” He also allegedly said he “has no objection to other compensation”, but not where he needed “material compensation.”
FBI agents told Letz on May 14 that the "foreign government" was ready to obtain other confidential information. Between May 15 and May 27, he transcribed more information and began removing it from the building by folding notes and hiding them in his clothes.
According to the Justice Department, Letz unknowingly communicated with FBI agents when he agreed to share confidential information. (iStock)
Letz arrived at a pre-prophetic location in Northern Virginia on Thursday and put the information “foreign.” He was arrested after the FBI received the documents.
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His first court appearance is scheduled for Friday in the Eastern District of Virginia.