A US State Department employee was arrested on Friday, March 8, on charges “related to his likely participation in a conspiracy to collect, transmit or lose national defence information”, the US Department of Justice press office said in a statement.
“A State Department employee working in Washington had access to classified information at his department’s workplace,” the department said in a statement.
According to court documents, Michael Charles Schena, 42, works for the US Department of State (DOS) at the DOS headquarters in Washington, DC. The official had a state secrets clearance and information up to the classified level within his DOS workspace.
The US DOJ says that beginning in April 2022, Shena allegedly communicated with people online through various communication platforms and provided them with information “that they were not authorised to receive”. Instead, Shena was allegedly receiving payments. On 27 February, Shena allegedly used his mobile phone to take pictures of several documents, which were displayed on his classified computer monitor marked “SECRET”. He then allegedly left work and returned to his home in Alexandria, where the mobile phone was seized, the press office said.
“He faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years,” the US agency said in a statement.
The US official has not commented publicly on the accusation at this time.