Courtney Williams, 40, was arrested for allegedly sharing classified information about an elite military unit at Fort Bragg with a journalist, according to multiple reports. Williams is charged with violating the Espionage Act for disclosing national defense information, the U.S. Department of Justice said. The classified information included unit aliases, tactics and techniques for covert missions, and true names of unit members, according to the indictment.
Williams worked for a special military unit at Fort Bragg from 2010 to 2016 as a civilian employee or defense contractor, multiple reports indicate. The journalist involved is Seth Harp, who wrote an article for Politico and a book titled 'The Fort Bragg Cartel' featuring Williams, according to multiple reports. Williams allegedly shared classified information with Harp between 2022 and 2025 via phone calls and text messages, court documents state.
Former Delta Force operators disclose 'national defense information' on podcasts and YouTube shows every day, but the government is going after Courtney for the sole reason that she exposed sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the unit. This is a vindictive act of retaliation, plain and simple.
The classified information included unit aliases, tactics and techniques for covert missions, and true names of unit members, the indictment states. Williams saved files titled 'Batch for Reporter' on her computer containing personnel files from her time with Delta Force, according to the Department of Justice. FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest on Wednesday, stating it sends a message to would-be leakers, multiple reports indicate.
Williams was released on Monday under home detention and location monitoring, barred from contacting media or using social media, U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Meyers said. She filed an EEOC complaint and settled for an amount she claimed was sufficient to buy a small house in North Carolina, multiple reports indicate.
Ask anybody who has read 'The Fort Bragg Cartel' which they think is the real threat to national security: Seth Harp's sources, or the rampant corruption and criminality they enabled him to document. The administration knows the answer to that question, and that's why it wants to punish whistleblowers and chill investigative reporting by bringing cases like this one.
Harp's book 'The Fort Bragg Cartel' examines deaths at the base and alleged involvement of elite soldiers in drug trafficking, according to multiple reports.
Seth Harp claims Williams is a whistleblower being unfairly targeted for exposing sexual harassment and discrimination in Delta Force. Seth Stern of the Freedom of the Press Foundation argues the real national security threat is the corruption documented in Harp's book, not Williams. Chip Gibbons of Defending Rights & Dissent criticizes the Espionage Act for enabling surveillance of journalists.
Just wanted to let you know I dropped this in the mail today for the thumb drive. It's stamped and addressed and ready to be sent back, no need to go to the post office!