Muslim ex-CIA official admits to leaking secret intel 

A Muslim ex-CIA official who leaked top-secret intelligence for Iran pleaded guilty on Friday.

Asif William Rahman began working for the CIA in 2016 and was granted top-secret security clearance. In October, he used that clearance to access documents related to a retaliatory strike Israel was planning against Iran after the Islamic country bombarded Israel with hundreds of ballistic missiles just weeks before. 

After Rahman leaked the documents to social media, he tried to scrub his digital footprint. According to a press release from the Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs, he destroyed his devices and dumped them in public trash cans, deleted journal entries and posts that reflected his political views, and “drafted entries to construct a false narrative regarding his activity.”

The leak significantly hampered Israel’s plans and forced the government to delay its retaliatory strike.

On Friday, Rahman pleaded guilty to two counts of illegally retaining and transmitting classified documents related to national defense. He faces 10 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in May. 

“Mr. Rahman betrayed the trust of the American people by unlawfully sharing classified national defense information he swore an oath to protect,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates that the Justice Department will spare no effort to swiftly find and aggressively prosecute those who harm the United States by illegally disclosing our national security secrets.”

Rahman’s actions have fanned concerns about Islamist federal employees who have been granted extensive access to US intelligence.

Nejwa Ali

Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has refused to terminate Nejwa Ali, a former spokeswoman for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). After Donald Trump banned the PLO’s “Palestinian Delegation to the US” during his first term, Ali found a position with the DHS as an adjudication officer for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It was Ali’s job to determine whether asylum seekers should be granted entry to the United States.

Following the October 7th massacre in Israel, Ali expressed support on social media for the Hamas attackers, writing: “I abso-f—ing-lutely celebrate [Palestinian hang-gliders], a–hole, f— you!” Her social media page, in which she describes herself as “American born” but “Palestinian @ heart”, contains several remarks about Jews such as: “F— Israel and any Jew that supports Israel.”

Mayorkas openly refused to fire Ali, instead placing her on paid administrative leave. Ali gloated about the decision and used her paid vacation to campaign for Hamas. After Mayorkas stonewalled congressional inquiries about Ali and the DHS refused to answer FOIA requests, lawmakers voted to reduce Ali’s salary to one dollar.

Yousra Fazili

Yousra Fazili is a senior Pentagon official with strong ties to the Qatari regime, which openly funds the Muslim Brotherhood and its subsidiary, Hamas. Qatar’s ruling Al-Thani family includes Meshal Bin Hamad Al-Thani, who since 2017 also served as Qatar’s Ambassador to the US. After Al-Thani’s appointment, it was revealed that Qatar was planning a covert influence operation that involved damaging the reputations of government officials who oppose Qatar.

During that time, Al-Thani’s strategic advisor was Yousra Fazili. For over three years, Fazili served Al-Thani by arranging “strategic partnerships.” Shortly after Joe Biden took office, Fazili was suddenly appointed special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs at the Pentagon.

Since then Fazili has been promoted twice and serves as the Pentagon’s chief financial officer and chief of staff to the undersecretary of defense for comptroller. 

This caught the attention of US Congressman Jack Bergman (R-MI), who raised the alarm about Fazili. In an August letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Bergman requested details about how the Pentagon vetted Fazili and what safeguards, if any, are in place to ensure she does not influence policy related to the Persian Gulf.

Bergman was brushed off with a brief response from Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs Rheanne Wirkkala, who simply told the congressman that Fazili had been vetted “in accordance with all appropriate laws and policies.”

Ariane Tabatabai

Wirkkala has also defended the Pentagon’s decision to employ Assistant Secretary for Special Operations Chief of Staff Ariane Tabatabai, who will keep her top security clearance despite being outed as an operative of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Emails obtained by Semafor revealed that Tabatabai was part of an Iranian influence operation called the Iranian Experts Initiative (IEI). The IEI’s objective was to recruit overseas academics and researchers to help shift policy towards Iran, particularly regarding its nuclear proliferation — an objective considered to have been successful. 

Tabatabai was a core member of the IEI, which was overseen by Iran’s Foreign Ministry. She was reportedly in direct contact with senior Iranian officials such as then-Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and a top Foreign Ministry official named Mostafa Zahrani, from whom she requested permission to attend international conferences. 

After joining the IEI, Tabatabai began writing articles for mainstream media outlets such as the Atlantic, Washington Post, and the New York Times in which she promoted a nuclear deal with Iran. She claimed that Iran was seeking nuclear capabilities not to build nuclear weapons but for “production of radioisotopes for medical purposes” and for “desalination, an energy-intensive process.”

In addition to writing articles, Tabatabai also went on the lecture circuit at various globalist think tanks such as billionaire George Soros’ Center for American Progress and the Council on Foreign Relations, where she advocated for a nuclear deal with Iran.

Tabatabai also served as a key aide to former Biden administration Special Envoy to Iran Robert Malley, who was suspended for “mishandling classified documents.”

When US Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) pressed the Pentagon for an explanation on why Tabatabai is retaining her post and her top security clearance, she received a similar brush-off from Wirkkala, who is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

“We have confirmed that Ms. Tabatabai’s employment and clearance processes were carried out in accordance with all appropriate laws and policies,” Wirkkala wrote Sen. Ernst in a letter.

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