The FBI has arrested a former U.S. Special Operations Command employee for allegedly leaking the downing of the F-15e fighter jet shot down over Iran late last week, the FBI announced Wednesday.
FBI Director Kash Patel described the suspected leaker as a former SOCOM employee, “who supported our top-level military warfighters, for allegedly transmitting classified information to a member of the media.”
During a Monday press conference at the White House, President Donald Trump told reporters that the government was “looking very hard to find that leaker,” describing the leaker as a “sick person.”
During the press conference, the president said his administration would go to the unnamed media company that broke the story, pressuring them to disclose the source of the leak, threatening jail time and citing national security.
For over two days, the administration and the Pentagon refused to confirm the crash and the subsequent report of the missing pilot, despite multiple media reports.
Trump claimed the leak placed the pilot and military rescuers at risk.
“There’s some things you can’t do, because when they did that, all of a sudden, the entire country of Iran knew that there was a pilot that was somewhere on their land that was fighting for his life, and it also made it much more difficult for the pilots and for the people going in to search for him,” said the president. “All of a sudden, they know that there’s somebody out there. They see all these planes coming in. It became a much more difficult operation because a leaker leaked that we have one. We’ve rescued one, but there’s another one out there that we’re trying to get.”
Trump argued the leak led to Iran putting out a notice, “offering a very big award” to anyone who captured the downed pilot.
“So in addition to a hostile, very talented, very good, very evil military, we had millions of people trying to get an award,” the president added.
Despite the leak, the back seat weapons systems officer, a colonel, was rescued Sunday after a harrowing rescue operation, which included hundreds of military personnel, military aircraft, including some that took enemy fire.
The front-seat pilot of the downed jet was rescued shortly after it was shot down over enemy territory in southwestern Iran.
While SOCOM is headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., Patel thanked the Charlotte, N.C., field office for assisting in the investigation and warned future leakers.
“Let this serve as a message to any would-be leakers: we’re working these cases, and we’re making arrests. This FBI will not tolerate those who seek to betray our country and put Americans in harm’s way,” Patel posted on X.
