Former Senate Intel Aide Charged With Lying To FBI About Reporter Contacts In Leaks Investigation

A former employee of the Senate intelligence committee has been arrested on charges of lying to the FBI about contacts he had with multiple reporters, one of whom was reportedly his lover, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

James A. Wolfe, the longtime director of security for the committee – one of multiple congressional panels investigating potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign – was indicted on three false statement counts after prosecutors say he misled agents about his relationships with reporters.

Though Wolfe is not charged with disclosing classified information, prosecutors say he was in regular and suspicious contact with multiple journalists who covered the committee, including meeting them at restaurants, in bars, private residences and in a Senate office building.

He also maintained a three years long personal relationship with one reporter, which prosecutors say he lied about until being confronted with a photograph of him and the journalist.

That reporter has been identified as Ali Watkins of The New York Times.

In April 2017, Watkins, who at the time was a reporter for BuzzFeed News, published a story which said that Carter Page, a former adviser to the Trump campaign, was recruited by a Russian spy.

According to Fox, communications records reveal he spoke to her half an hour after that story went live.

She left BuzzFeed and joined the Times in December of last year.

Wolfe, of Ellicott City, Maryland, is due in court Friday. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

Each false statement count is punishable by up to five years in prison, though if convicted, Wolfe would almost certainly face only a fraction of that time.

The criminal case arises from a December 2017 FBI interview with Wolfe in which prosecutors say he was shown a news article that contained classified information and was authored by three journalists.

He checked ‘no’ in a written questionnaire when asked if he had any contact with the reporters, even though records obtained by the government show he had been in regular contact with them – including through encrypted messaging platforms.

Keep reading…