US Soldier Charged With Trying to Pass Abrams Tank Secrets to Russia

The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday arrested and charged Specialist Taylor Adam Lee, a 22-year-old soldier stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, with attempting to provide sensitive military information to Russia. Prosecutors say Lee, who held a top-secret security clearance, sought Russian citizenship in exchange for data on the operation and vulnerabilities of the M1A2 Abrams main battle tank. Court documents filed in the Western District of Texas allege that Lee last month handed an SD card containing technical documents to someone he believed was a Russian intelligence officer and later delivered a piece of tank hardware to a storage unit in El Paso, declaring the “mission accomplished.” The material included controlled technical data that Lee was not authorized to disseminate. Lee faces two federal counts—attempted transmission of national defense information and attempted export of controlled technical data—each of which carries substantial prison time if convicted. “Soldiers who violate their oath and become insider threats will be caught and brought to justice,” Brigadier General Sean Stinchon, commanding general of Army Counterintelligence Command, said in a statement. Lee has not yet entered a plea, and attorney information was unavailable at the time of publication.