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On June 23, Lebanese-American Mariam Taha Thompson was sentenced to 23 years in prison for leaking classified national defense information to Hezbollah.
Thompson, 62, from Rochester, Minnesota, was a contracted linguist for a US Special Operations task force in Iraq and had top secret clearance.
In a statement, the US Department of Justice said that Thompson admitted that she knew that the classified national defense information that she was passing to a Lebanese national would be provided the Lebanese group.
“Thompson’s sentence reflects the seriousness of her violation of the trust of the American people, of the human sources she jeopardized and of the troops who worked at her side as friends and colleagues,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “That Thompson passed our nation’s sensitive secrets to someone whom she knew had ties to Lebanese Hezbollah made her betrayal all the more serious. Thompson’s sentence should stand as a clear warning to all clearance holders that violations of their oath to this country will not be taken lightly, especially when they put lives at risk.”
Last March, Thompson pleaded guilty to passing information about US human intelligence sources to an individual with ties to Hezbollah.
Thompson begin providing sensitive information to the man, who promised to marry her, after the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s Quds Force commander, in January of 2020.
Using her top security clearance, the linguist provided her “handler” in Lebanon with critical information, including the identities of at least eight clandestine human assets; at least ten US targets; and multiple tactics, techniques and procedures used by US agents.
Hezbollah is designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the US. Thompson’s case is, without a doubt, a large blow to the US intelligence community.
