NSA contractor charged with taking classified information

A contractor for the National Security Agency has been arrested on charges that he illegally removed highly classified information and stored the material in his house and car, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Harold Thomas Martin III, 51, of Glen Burnie, Md., was arrested by the FBI in August after authorities say he admitted to having taken government secrets. A defence attorney said Martin did not intend to betray his country.

The New York Times said Martinworked for Booz Allen Hamilton, the same consulting firm that employed Edward Snowden when he revealed the collection of metadata by the National Security Agency.

Among the classified documents found with Martin, according to the Justice Department, were six that contain sensitive intelligence meaning they were produced through sensitive government sources or methods that are critical to national security and date back to 2014. All the documents were clearly marked as classified information, according to a criminal complaint.

The arrest could turn into another embarrassment for the U.S. intelligence community. It would be the second case of an intelligence worker stealing secret data from the NSA in recent years.

• Spotlighting 'human details' in Snowden
• Edward Snowden says Canadian spying has weakest oversight in Western world

The complaint does not identify the agency Martin worked for as a contractor, but a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation confirmed it was the NSA.

At Martin's home, investigators found stolen property valued at "well in excess of $1,000," the complaint said. He voluntarily agreed to an interview.

"Martin at first denied, and later when confronted with specific documents, admitted he took documents and digital files from his work assignment to his residence and vehicle that he knew were classified," according to the complaint, despite not having the authorization to do so. "Martin stated that he knew what he had done was wrong and that he should not have done it because he knew it was unauthorized."

No intention of betraying his country,lawyers say

Martin has been in custody since a court appearance in August, when he was arrested.

"There is no evidence that Hal Martin intended to betray his country," his public defenders, James Wyda and Deborah Boardman, said in a statement. "What we do know is that Hal Martin loves his family and his country. He served honourably as a lieutenant in the United States navy, and he has devoted his entire career to serving his country. We look forward to defending Hal Martin in court."

Speaking at a cybersecurity panel Wednesday, the Justice Department's top national security official, John Carlin, confirmed the arrest of "an individual who's involved in taking classified information." He said the arrest generally pointed to the threat posed by insiders.

The complaint charges Martin with unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials, which carries a maximum one-year sentence, and theft of government property an offence punishable by up to 10 years.

In 2013,Snowden, also an NSA contractor,stole 1.5 million classified documents from NSA. He leaked them to journalists, revealing the agency's bulk collection of millions of Americans' phone records.

That set off a fierce debate that pit civil libertarians concerned about privacy against more hawkish lawmakers fearful about losing tools to combat terrorism. Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans pushed through a reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act last year that ended the program.

Snowden fled to Hong Kongand then Russiato avoid prosecution and now wants a presidential pardon because he says he helped his country by revealing secret domestic surveillance programs.

• Canada's Snowden files
• Spy agencies target mobile phones, app stores to implant spyware