An Army veteran who helped support the elite Delta Force commando unit has been arrested on allegations that she shared classified information with a journalist writing about the secret team.
Courtney Williams, 40, appeared in federal court in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday to face a criminal complaint of unlawful transmission of national defense information.
The complaint claims Williams disclosed “tactics, techniques and procedures” used by an unspecified “special military unit” based at Fort Bragg. Prosecutors allege those details were classified “secret” and prohibited from distribution to foreign countries.
an affidavit The unit or the reporter were not named by the FBI agent supporting the criminal case, but match the description given in the court document A book by author Seth Harp about Delta Force An adaptation of that also appeared in Politico last year.
Harp said Williams endured “vicious harassment” of a sexual nature for years while working to provide special operations soldiers with passports, driver’s licenses and credit cards, allowing them to deploy overseas to avoid detection. According to the author, she eventually filed a formal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and obtained a settlement.
Harp said Williams is being wrongly accused.
“Courtney Williams is a veteran, a mother, and a patriotic American. She committed no crime. Trump’s beleaguered DOJ won’t even reveal what ‘classified information’ she allegedly leaked. Her arrest and imprisonment are an outrage.” Harp wrote on X. “Is it classified that many Delta Force operators and officers sexually harass and discriminate against women in the workplace?”
FBI Director Kash Patel praised Williams’ arrest and called it “excellent work” that led to it.
“The FBI and our partners have arrested a former SOCOM employee who supported our top-level military war fighters for allegedly transmitting classified information to a member of the media.” Patel wrote on X. “Let this serve as a message to any potential leakers: We are working on these cases, and we are making arrests. This FBI will not tolerate those who seek to betray our country and harm Americans.”
However, Harp said the case required some investigation from the FBI. Williams is mentioned by name throughout the book and in the Politico article, which includes four photographs of him. “We never made any attempt to hide him or hide his identity,” he said.
A spokesperson for Politico declined to comment.
The criminal complaint alleges that shortly after the book was published, Williams wrote to Harp via text expressing concern that she “certainly would have been concerned by the amount of classified information disclosed” and that she feared it would give authorities “the opportunity to legally harass me.”
The initial charge against Williams carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. She was represented by a federal defender at Wednesday’s brief hearing, but court records indicate Williams plans to retain a private attorney to represent her.
Prosecutors have requested that Williams be detained until trial. A magistrate judge set a hearing on that request for Monday and ordered that Williams be detained until then.
