A federal grand jury indicted a former Army employee supporting an Army Special Military Unit (SMU) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, today for allegedly transmitting classified national defense information to a journalist, court records show. Courtney Williams, 40, of Wagram, North Carolina, faces one count under 18 U.S.C. § 793(d) of the Espionage Act.
Williams served as an operational support technician with the SMU from 2010 to 2016, holding a Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance. The SMU, unidentified in court filings, is based at Fort Bragg, home of 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, commonly known as Delta Force.
According to the indictment, Williams communicated with a journalist via more than 180 messages and over 10 hours of calls between 2022 and 2025. Court documents describe file batches on her computer labeled “Batch 1 for Reporter” through at least “Batch 10 for Reporter.”
Williams also made unauthorized disclosures through her personal social media accounts, the Department of Justice stated.
The journalist is not named in the indictment but the description matches Seth Harp, whose book The Fort Bragg Cartel and an accompanying Politico excerpt were published in August 2025.
A government review determined the article contained SECRET-level information, including specific tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by the SMU to execute sensitive missions.
On publication day, Williams texted the journalist that she was “concerned about the amount of classified information being disclosed.”
In a separate message, she cited a specific statutory provision of the Espionage Act by name, adding she was “probably going to jail for life.”
When asked how she knew she faced legal exposure, Williams said, “I have known my entire career,” adding that “they tell you every day… 100 times a day.”
“Anyone divulging information they vowed to protect to a reporter for publication is reckless, self-serving and damages our nation’s security,” said Reid Davis, FBI Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina.
After an #FBI investigation, Special Agents arrested a former Fort Bragg civilian contractor for allegedly giving classified materials to a reporter who published national security information. SAC Davis stresses the risk to our national security when classified information is… pic.twitter.com/OlazbNMA5T
— FBI Charlotte (@FBICharlotte) April 8, 2026
Harp declined an interview but issued a statement calling Williams “a brave whistleblower and truth-teller,” saying the charge was “a vindictive act of retaliation” for exposing gender discrimination inside the unit.
Statement on the arrest of Courtney Williams, a brave and patriotic truth-teller who has committed no crime and, if there is any justice in the world, will soon be free from the clutches of Trump’s rogue DOJ pic.twitter.com/NZblU0xmwb
— Seth Harp (@sethharpesq) April 8, 2026
Williams signed Classified Nondisclosure Agreements in 2010 and 2015. The FBI Charlotte Field Office investigated the case. An indictment is an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
