Gokhan Gun, a dual U.S. and Turkish citizen employed as an electrical engineer for the Department of Defense, was arrested on Friday after being charged with mishandling classified documents. Gun, who has top-secret clearance due to his work with the U.S. Air Force, is accused of printing and removing over 250 classified documents, including at least 155 pages marked “top secret,” from May to August of this year. The arrest occurred just before Gun was scheduled to fly to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
According to an FBI complaint filed in a Virginia federal court, federal agents intercepted Gun at his Falls Church, Virginia home as he was preparing to leave for the airport. During a search of his belongings, agents discovered classified documents in his backpack, including one marked “top secret.” A further search of his home revealed additional top-secret documents stacked in his dining room. Gun had reportedly printed thousands of pages of documents, both classified and unclassified, during his tenure at the Defense Department.
Gun’s public defender argued in court that Gun was not a flight risk and was merely heading to Mexico for a fishing trip. However, federal prosecutors emphasized the seriousness of the charges and pointed to Gun’s extensive travel history, which includes trips to Turkey, Europe, and the Middle East, as well as his ownership of multiple properties across the U.S., as indicators of a potential flight risk. Prosecutors also noted that Gun was observed leaving his office with rolled documents in shopping bags on several occasions, a suspicious behavior that contributed to the investigation.
Gun, who became a U.S. citizen in 2021, denied any wrongdoing in a voluntary interview with the FBI, claiming that his supervisor permitted him to take home unclassified documents and suggesting that the classified markings on some documents may have expired. Despite these claims, the FBI asserts that at least one document printed by Gun as recently as Wednesday still retained its top-secret classification.
Gun faces charges for the unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, which could result in a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of $250,000. Investigators are continuing to probe the motives behind Gun’s actions and whether he intended to flee the country.
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