A civilian IT specialist with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was arrested Thursday in Northern Virginia on charges of attempting to transmit classified information to a representative of a foreign government.
Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 28, of Alexandria, Virginia, was taken into custody after allegedly arranging to provide sensitive materials to an undercover FBI agent posing as an official of the foreign government, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Laatsch, an information technology specialist with the DIA’s Insider Threat Division since 2019, held a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance. According to court documents, he contacted the representative in March, offering classified information and citing ideological opposition to the Trump administration’s policies as his motivation. “I did not agree or align with the values of this administration,” Laatsch wrote in an email, prosecutors said.
The Justice Department reported that Laatsch offered a range of sensitive information, including finalized intelligence products, unprocessed intelligence, and other classified documents. The DIA, responsible for foreign military intelligence, works closely with the Pentagon, adding to the sensitivity of the materials involved.
Following a tip to the FBI, agents posing as foreign government officials engaged with Laatsch. Over multiple meetings, he transcribed and delivered classified information. In early May, he allegedly dropped a thumb drive at a prearranged location, containing what he described as a “decent sample size” of classified materials, accompanied by a note. Later, he requested “citizenship for your country,” stating that he did not expect “things here to improve in the long term.”
Prosecutors said Laatsch arranged a second drop-off on May 29. At that location, he was arrested by the FBI. The country to which Laatsch believed he was transmitting the information was described by the Justice Department as a U.S.-allied, or “friendly,” nation.
Official sources have not disclosed the country’s identity, though an open-source review of Laatsch’s social media suggested admiration for progressive European democracies, particularly in Western Europe.
Court filings show Laatsch began transcribing notes of classified material over a 12-day period in May. The FBI’s undercover operation culminated in his arrest during the second drop-off in Northern Virginia. Laatsch is set to make his first court appearance on Friday. It was not immediately clear if he had secured legal representation.
The Justice Department has not commented further, citing the ongoing investigation.
