Kash Patel: FBI arrests former SOCOM employee who supported top-level military warfighters for allegedly leaking to media
TAMPA, Florida – FBI Director Kash Patel announced on Wednesday a former employee of the United States Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, has been arrested for allegedly leaking classified information to the news media.
“FBI and our partners have arrested a former SOCOM employee, who supported our top-level military warfighters, for allegedly transmitting classified information to a member of the media,” Patel said on X.
“Outstanding work by @FBICharlotte and the FBI Counterintelligence & Espionage Division – as well as our @TheJusticeDept partners.”
“Let this serve as a message to any would-be leakers: we’re working these cases, and we’re making arrests. This FBI will not tolerate those who seek to betray our country and put Americans in harm’s way.”
According to its website, Tampa-based SOCOM “develops, and employs, the world’s finest SOF to conduct global special operations and activities as part of the Joint Force, in concert with the U.S. Government Interagency, Allies, and Partners, to support persistent, networked, and distributed combatant command operations and campaigns against state and non-state actors all to protect and advance U.S. policies and objectives.”
While Patel did not provide the name of the suspected leaker or any other details, the announcement comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s announcement this week that someone had leaked information to the media about the two downed American airmen in Iran, both of whom have since been rescued.
“As you probably know, we didn’t talk about the first one for an hour, and then somebody leaked something, which we’ll hopefully find that leaker; we’re looking very hard to find that leaker, and talked about there’s somebody missing,” Trump told reporters Monday.
“They basically said that we have one, and there’s somebody missing. Well, they didn’t know there was somebody missing until this leaker gave the information!”
“So whoever it is, we think we’ll be able to find it out, because we’re going to go to the media company that released it. And we’re going to say, national security, give it up or go to jail.”
President Trump on an individual LEAKING to a media company that one of the aircrew of the F-15E that went down in Iran was still missing: “We have to find that leaker, because that’s a sick person… It’s national security. And the person that did the story will go to jail if he… pic.twitter.com/pM8eojqbDJ
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) April 6, 2026
“There’s some things you can’t do. When they did that, all of a sudden, the entire country of Iran knew that there was a pilot that was somewhere on their land that was fighting for his life!” Trump added.
He continued: “Because a leaker leaked – because we have one – we rescued one, but there’s another one out there that we’re trying to get, actually, the country, Iran, put out.. offering a very big award for anybody that captures the pilot.”
“They put this mission, that man at great risk, and hundreds of people looking for him!”
Amit Segal, the high-profile political commentator and anchor for Israel’s Channel 12 news, stepped forward on his Telegram channel Monday and acknowledged his role in publishing the initial scoop about the downed U.S. fighter jet crew, as the Gateway Pundit reported.
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