Federal prosecutors say they have reached a tentative plea agreement with a former CIA officer accused of secretly amassing more than $40 million in gold bars in the basement of his Virginia home.
According to Just The News, U.S. officials allege that David J. Rush, a onetime officer in the CIAs science and technology division, fabricated a bogus classified program so restricted that only a handful of people were supposedly allowed to know of its existence. That purported scheme, officials say, enabled him to accumulate 303 gold bars and nearly three dozen luxury watches before FBI agents arrested him on May 19, after searching his residence, as first detailed by the New York Times.
In a court filing requesting more time to seek an indictment, prosecutors and Rushs defense attorney jointly told a federal district court in Virginia that a "preindictment resolution promotes the public interest." They argued that a negotiated deal would avoid the immense complications and national-security risks that come with handling classified material in open court.
The parties have made significant progress and have a plea agreement in principle that would resolve the matter prior to an indictment, the government and defense lawyers wrote in a joint filing to the court. In the same filing, they asked the judge to extend their deadline to Oct. 8 to finalize the agreement.
For many Americans already skeptical of the intelligence bureaucracys power and lack of transparency, the case underscores how secrecy can be manipulated from within, with taxpayers left in the dark until scandals surface. As prosecutors and defense attorneys work toward a quiet plea rather than a full public trial, conservatives will be watching closely to see whether accountability for alleged corruption inside the intelligence community is robust and transparentor once again shielded behind the veil of classification.
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