Henry Kyle Frese

Henry Kyle (Keenan) Frese (born October 27, 1988) was an employee at the Defense Intelligence Agency, between February 2018 and October 2019,[2] during which time he was assigned to a facility in Virginia.

Henry Kyle (Keenan) Frese
Born (1988-10-27) October 27, 1988[1]
OccupationFormer counter-terrorism analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency
Conviction(s)Willful transmission of national defense information
Criminal chargeWillful transmission of national defense information
Penalty30 months in prison

Frese held "Top Secret" (TS) clearance.[3]

Indictment

On October 9, 2019, Frese was charged with two violations of the Espionage Act under 18 USC 793(d) by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia for willful transmission of National Defense Information.[4][5]

The Justice Department alleges that Frese disclosed the top secret information to newspaper reporters, one of which Justice alleged was a reporter with whom Frese may have been involved in a "romantic relationship,"[6] and whom the government referred to as "Journalist 1;" Erik Wemple of The Washington Post identified the journalist as Amanda Macias,[7] as did The Wall Street Journal, which also identified a second involved journalist as Courtney Kube, a senior reporter for NBC.[8]

On February 20, 2020, Frese pleaded guilty to the willful transmission of Top Secret national defense information.[9][10]

The Washington Post, News of Australia, and The Spectator all compared Frese's case to that of Senate Intelligence Committee staffer James Wolfe, who allegedly passed on secrets to Ali Watkins during a romantic relationship.[11][12][13]

Sentencing

On June 18, 2020, Frese was sentenced to 30 months in prison for "leaking information to two journalists, including one he was dating";[14] prosecutors had asked for nine years, but his defense argued, among others, that his girlfriend, “a reporter whose 'career was stalling',” had pressured and influenced him at a susceptible time.[15][16] While he at first rebuffed her cajoling,[17] his “judgment was clouded by 'a misguided effort to salvage a relationship that was not worth saving'.”[18]

Personal life

Frese had Canadian citizenship, which he gave up to work in U.S. Intelligence.[15] As of 2019, Frese was in a romantic relationship with Amanda Macias,[19] with whom he shared a home.[20]

References
  1. Frese, Henry [@HKFrese] (27 October 2014). "I may turn 26 today, but apparently I still don't know how to shave. Face is about as smooth as sand paper" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1207916/download
  3. Savannah Behrmann (20 February 2020). "Intelligence employee pleads guilty to leaking classified info to journalists". USA Today. Retrieved 6 September 2020. Frese, 31, was employed as a counterterrorism analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency from February 2018 to October 2019, and held a top-secret clearance.
  4. Kalmbacher, Colin (October 9, 2019). "Intelligence Analyst Allegedly Shared Top Secret Info with Reporters, Tweeted Story Containing His Own Leak". Law and Crime. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019.
  5. Morrisey, Ed (October 9, 2019). "Media Honey Trap? DoJ Indicts Intel Analyst For Leaking To Journalist Lover; Update: Journalists Identified?". Hot Air. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019.
  6. Mangan, Dan (October 9, 2019). "Defense Intelligence Agency worker arrested on charges of leaking top-secret information to reporters". CNBC.
  7. Erik Wemple (10 October 2019). "Reporters at CNBC and NBC News become tangled in leak investigation". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Frese followed Macias on Twitter and Macias followed Frese on Twitter. That makes sense, especially when considering this additional fact: “Public records checks also show that FRESE and Journalist 1 had the same residential address from August 2017 through August 2018. Based on reviews of FRESE’s and Journalist 1’s public social media pages, it appears that they were involved in a romantic relationship for some or all of that period of time.”
  8. Feuerherd, Ben (October 10, 2019). "Journalists in intelligence leak case IDed as NBC and CNBC reporters".
  9. Betz, Bradford (February 20, 2020). "Ex-DIA employee pleads guilty to leaking top-secret info to reporters". Fox News.
  10. "Former DIA Employee Pleads Guilty to Leaking Classified National Defense Information to Journalists". Department of Justice. February 20, 2020. Archived from the original on February 21, 2020.
  11. Erik Wemple (10 October 2019). "Reporters at CNBC and NBC News become tangled in leak investigation". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 February 2020. differentiates this investigation from [...] the 2018 case involving New York Times reporter Ali Watkins
  12. Frank Chung (10 October 2019). "TV host's son interrupts broadcast in viral 'mum moment' — as she's named in classified leak scandal". News Corp Australia. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020. Senate Intelligence Committee staffer James Wolfe was arrested and charged with lying to investigators about his contacts with three reporters, one of whom he was allegedly in a romantic relationship with. New York Times reporter Ali Watkins had previously tweeted about wanting to be like the character Zoe Barnes
  13. Stephen L. Miller (11 December 2019). "Why is everyone pretending reporters never sleep with sources?". The Spectator. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Watkins and Macias are still employed by the Times and CNBC. Not only does it appear the practice of sleeping with sources for information is more than a mere trope, it seems it’s something not punished by newsrooms
  14. "Ex-analyst gets 2.5 years for leaking info to journalists". KSL-TV. The Associated Press. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020. counterterrorism analyst who leaked classified information to two journalists, including one he was dating, has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison
  15. Weiner, Rachel (June 18, 2020). "Former intelligence analyst sentenced to 30 months in prison for leaks". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Frese “was particularly susceptible to pressure and influence” when his girlfriend, a reporter whose “career was stalling,” began asking him to share information
  16. "Former DIA Analyst Sentenced for Leaking Classified Information to Journalists". United States Department of Justice. June 18, 2020. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020.
  17. MATTHEW BARAKAT (16 June 2020). "Ex-analyst says journalist girlfriend cajoled him into leaks". WHSV-TV. The Associated Press. Retrieved 6 September 2020. The journalist began asking Frese to confirm information she received from other sources, or to give her new leads on potential stories because her “career was stalling,”
  18. Sarah N. Lynch (18 June 2020). "Ex-U.S. counterterrorism analyst sentenced to 2.5 years over media leaks". Reuters. Retrieved 3 July 2020. his client’s judgment was clouded by “a misguided effort to salvage a relationship that was not worth saving.”
  19. Aruna Viswanath; Dustin Volz; Byron Tau. "Counterterrorism Analyst Arrested for Leaking to Two Journalists". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 17 May 2020. Ms. Macias and Mr. Frese were in a romantic relationship, according to the indictment as well as social media posts reviewed by The Wall Street Journal
  20. Michael Levenson (20 February 2020). "Former Pentagon Analyst Pleads Guilty to Sharing Classified Information". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Amanda Macias, a national security reporter at CNBC, who was Mr. Frese’s girlfriend and shared a home with him
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