A former U.S. soldier has been arrested for attempting to deliver classified defense information to China’s ruling communist regime, the State Department has said.
Joseph Schmidt served in the U.S. Army. He attained the rank of sergeant, but was not enlisted at the time of his arrest on Oct. 6.
Mr. Schmidt is charged with two felonies related to alleged attempts to deliver national defense information to communist China and illegal retention of national defense information after his time in service.
He is scheduled to appear in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Friday and will be brought to the Western District of Washington for further court proceedings after that.
“Individuals entrusted with national defense information have a continuing duty to protect that information beyond their government service and certainly beyond our borders,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen in a prepared statement.
“The National Security Division is committed to identifying and holding accountable those who violate that duty.”
Mr. Schmidt served in the Army for five years, ending his service in 2020.
His primary active-duty assignment was at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, where he served in the 109th Military Intelligence Battalion. He was given access to Secret and Top Secret information in his role there.
After separating from the military, Mr. Schmidt is alleged to have illegally held onto classified intelligence about national defense matters that he had obtained as part of his duties. Mr. Schmidt then allegedly reached out to the Chinese consulate in Turkey and then through email to Chinese security services and offered the information to the regime.
“As alleged by the government, Schmidt betrayed his promise and potentially placed our nation at risk in his attempts to pass national defense information to Chinese security services,” said FBI Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Suzanne Turner.
“The FBI and our partners remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting the American people and U.S. national security.”
Two months after Mr. Schmidt’s separation from the Army, he traveled to Hong Kong where he allegedly told Chinese security services that he had access to a device that could access the United States’ secure military computer networks. It is alleged Mr. Schmidt offered to provide this device to the regime.
Mr. Schmidt has resided in Hong Kong since 2020, but was arrested upon flying into San Francisco this week.
“Members of our military take a sworn oath to defend our country and the Constitution,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman.
“In that context the alleged actions of this former military member are shocking, not only attempting to provide national defense information, but also information that would assist a foreign adversary to gain access to Department of Defense secure computer networks.”
Both of the alleged crimes are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
