Defense Contractor Allegedly Compromised by Honey Trap
March 20th, 2013Via: ABC:
A defense contractor and former U.S. Army officer has been charged with communicating national defense secrets to a 27-year-old Chinese national with whom he had a romantic relationship.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court Monday in Hawaii, Benjamin Pierce Bishop, 59, who held a top secret clearance, transmitted “national defense information regarding existing war plans, information regarding nuclear weapons, and relations with international partners,” to an email address known to be used by the woman referred to as “Person 1.”
Bishop met the woman during a conference on international military defense issues and according to the complaint, she “may have been at the conference in order to target individuals such as Bishop,” who work with and have access to classified information.
Court records state that Bishop maintained “an intimate, romantic relationship with Person 1 since June 2011,” and worked to hide that relationship from the U.S. government. Bishop was required to report foreign contacts as part of maintaining his security clearance.
