CIA officer arrested with gold bars admits he exposed secret intelligence source to a foreign official
NBC News · LC · trust 54/100
David Rush, 49, admitted to one count of wire fraud under an agreement with federal prosecutors and faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 28.
Justice Department officials said Rush siphoned off $194 million in government funds, using his position at the CIA to create an elaborate scheme designed to facilitate his “maximum self-enrichment at the expense of the United States.”
In a plea document , Rush admitted that in late 2025 he disclosed “certain descriptive information of a U.S. government clandestine human source” that could “endanger the safety and life of the human source and the U.S. government officers working with the source,” as well as jeopardize America’s “ability to recruit human sources, who rely on the U.S. government’s assurance of absolute secrecy.”
During their search of his home, investigators seized about 300 gold bars, federal officials said, along with about $2 million in U.S. currency. Department of Justice Rush has been in jail since his arrest May 19, after investigators said he made up details about his education and military service record, fooling the nation’s top spy agency for years.
As a top officer at the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology, Rush had access to the nation’s most secret programs -- and he used that to his benefit, prosecutors said. Rush worked as a liaison to the Pentagon for sensitive military programs and collaborated closely with the Defense Department’s powerful second in command , Steve Feinberg, people familiar with the work have told NBC News.
FOR SUBSCRIBERS This voting bloc holds the key to the midterms FOR SUBSCRIBERS Florida Democrats try to regain their mojo after years of Republican dominance FOR SUBSCRIBERS Justice Department tells employees to adopt Trump’s AI rebrand FOR SUBSCRIBERS U.S. housing market sets a grim record as sellers swamp buyers FOR SUBSCRIBERS France shuts down nearly 900 schools as violent student protests escalate FOR SUBSCRIBERS Texts show worried Cornell fraternity brothers coordinating responses as accusations came to light FOR SUBSCRIBERS Former Olympic canoeist asks government watchdogs to probe ‘nightmare’ Reflecting Pool case FOR SUBSCRIBERS A psychedelic drug could soon get approved in the U.S. What should the rules be? FOR SUBSCRIBERS Locals called their town ‘Almost Heaven’. A plan to open a Buc-ee’s exposed its underbelly. FOR SUBSCRIBERS The Data Dive: Steve Kornacki on how Kansas became a surprise midterm battleground FOR SUBSCRIBERS Baltic nations brace for Russian attacks as border threats escalate FOR SUBSCRIBERS Latino voters feel buyer’s remorse in battleground Texas FOR SUBSCRIBERS Tips came in just minutes after Cornell alerted students to an alleged sex assault at a frat house FOR SUBSCRIBERS What’s on the Supreme Court’s docket this term? FOR SUBSCRIBERS Ford CEO says ‘it’s our responsibility’ to make sure affordable cars are sold in the U.S. For Subscribers FOR SUBSCRIBERS This voting bloc holds the key to the midterms FOR SUBSCRIBERS Florida Democrats try to regain their mojo after years of Republican dominance FOR SUBSCRIBERS Justice Department tells employees to adopt Trump’s AI rebrand FOR SUBSCRIBERS U.S. housing market sets a grim record as sellers swamp buyers FOR SUBSCRIBERS France shuts down nearly 900 schools as violent student protests escalate FOR SUBSCRIBERS Texts show worried Cornell fraternity brothers coordinating responses as accusations came to light FOR SUBSCRIBERS Former Olympic canoeist asks government watchdogs to probe ‘nightmare’ Reflecting Pool case FOR SUBSCRIBERS A psychedelic drug could soon get approved in the U.S. What should the rules be? FOR SUBSCRIBERS Locals called their town ‘Almost Heaven’. A plan to open a Buc-ee’s exposed its underbelly. FOR SUBSCRIBERS The Data Dive: Steve Kornacki on how Kansas became a surprise midterm battleground FOR SUBSCRIBERS Baltic nations brace for Russian attacks as border threats escalate FOR SUBSCRIBERS Latino voters feel buyer’s remorse in battleground Texas FOR SUBSCRIBERS Tips came in just minutes after Cornell alerted students to an alleged sex assault at a frat house FOR SUBSCRIBERS What’s on the Supreme Court’s docket this term? FOR SUBSCRIBERS Ford CEO says ‘it’s our responsibility’ to make sure affordable cars are sold in the U.S. The case has prompted a wave of shock and anxiety among lawmakers and within the insular spy agency. How could someone have fooled the highest levels of government for decades, and how could he have gotten through what is considered a rigorous vetting process to join the CIA? The intelligence community’s watchdog is separately investigating, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the probe.
Until Tuesday, Rush — who was placed on leave sometime before his arrest and then fired — had only formally been charged with one count of theft of public funds, accused of falsifying his pay records. His court case was postponed for weeks as his lawyers and the government worked toward a possible plea agreement . U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff approved the plea deal Tuesday.
Rush acted alone, using his manufactured bona fides to create confidence in his work, court documents say. No other CIA officials, government employees or contractors were accused of crimes in the case. According to court documents, his deceptions “caused contractors and subcontractors to carry out the transactions”
Rush fabricated a highly classified program to funnel tens millions of dollars for his personal purchase of luxury real estate in Florida and invented a sensitive government “activity” to acquire the gold bars.
“Rush effectively acted as his own approving official, enabling him to expend substantial amounts of United States government money without meaningful scrutiny,” according to court documents.
David Rush pleads guilty to one count of wire fraud in the Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday. Dana Verkouteren During their search of his home,…
Read the original at NBC News →
Open in TruthVane →