WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government said on Wednesday it had charged a Defense Department linguist with transmitting classified intelligence to a foreign national linked to the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah, saying she revealed the names of key American assets and put their lives at risk.
Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, formerly of Rochester, Minnesota, was arrested by FBI agents at an overseas military base in Irbil, Iraq, on Feb. 27. She was due to make an initial appearance on Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Reuters could not immediately determine who is representing Thompson in the case.
“While in a war zone, the defendant allegedly gave sensitive national defense information, including the names of individuals helping the United States, to a Lebanese national located overseas,” John Demers, the Justice Department’