David Franklin Slater, a retired Army officer who was working in a civilian capacity at U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraka, transmitted classified information on the war in Ukraine via a foreign dating website, federal prosecutors said March 4, 2024, in announcing charges against Slater. (Offutt Air Force Base/Facebook)
A retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel is accused of leaking classified information about Russia’s war against Ukraine via text messages on an unspecified foreign dating website, according to the Justice Department.
David Franklin Slater, 63, attended classified briefings as part of his work at U.S. Strategic Command and then sent secrets from them to a person who claimed to be a woman living in Ukraine, prosecutors said Monday in a statement.
He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the charges, which include one count of conspiracy to disclose sensitive information and two counts of unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information.
The indictment was filed in U.S. district court in Omaha, Neb., on Feb. 21 and did not identify the alleged co-conspirator.
Slater retired from the Army in 2020 and took a job as a civilian employee for the Air Force. He worked in a classified area at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska from August 2021 until April 2022, the indictment said.
The base is the home of STRATCOM and contains some of the military’s most sensitive information networks.
The person who prosecutors say plied Slater for information referred to him as her “secret informant love” and “secret agent,” according to court filings. Slater received messages such as “Beloved Dave, do NATO and (U.S. President Joe) Biden have a secret plan to help us?” and “Dave, I hope tomorrow NATO will prepare a very unpleasant ‘surprise’ for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin! Will you tell me?”
In response, Slater sent classified assessments of Russian military capabilities and the travel plans of U.S. officials visiting Ukraine, the indictment said.
One message on April 14, 2022, thanked Slater for “valuable information” about two U.S. officials going to Kyiv. That was the day the first U.S. delegation of Republicans Sen. Steve Daines of Montana and Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana visited Ukraine.
Slater is scheduled for his first court appearance Tuesday, court documents said. He began speaking with the co-conspirator via emails and texts around the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to prosecutors.
The co-conspirator would ask Slater questions about what he saw at classified briefings, the indictment said.
A March 11 message said, “Dear, what is shown on the screens in the special room?? It is very interesting.” Another on April 21 said, “You have a job in the Operations Center today, I remember, I’m sure there is a lot of interesting news there?”
Other messages appeared to thank Slater for providing information. One sent April 12 said, “Sweet Dave, the supply of weapons is completely classified, which is great!”
Slater’s arrest Saturday came hours after Massachusetts Air Force National Guard member Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty to leaking U.S. secrets about the Russia-Ukraine war on the social media platform Discord.
