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A former FBI agent was charged in federal court with illegally disclosing confidential documents.
According to court records obtained by USA TODAY, former agent Johnathan Buma was arrested by federal agents on Monday at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York as he was about to board an international flight.
Buma had previously accused the bureau of political bias during President Donald Trump’s first term. According to court records, Buma, a 15-year veteran of the FBI, had allegedly shared text messages, as well as internal documents and other “sensitive information.”
Investigators said that the documents shared were for a prospective book that Buma had begun writing about his time as an FBI agent.
In 2023, Buma wrote a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee where he alleged that the FBI had suppressed efforts to investigate former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani during Trump’s first term in office.
Following the letter, federal law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Buma’s residence. By that time, Buma had been assigned to the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.
Buma’s public defender, who only represented him on Tuesday, did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on Thursday.
What is Johnathan Buma accused of?
According to court records, Buma allegedly printed out a cache of confidential FBI files in October 2023.
Investigators said the documents included records that documented intelligence he gathered. Following the printing of the documents, investigators said Buma immediately told his bosses that he would go on unpaid leave.
According to the filings, Buma posted excerpts of his proposed book to the internet. In those, Buma detailed information about his work at the FBI which included his reasons for becoming a “whistleblower” as well as details of his work.
In these details, Buma said he would become “the most significant whistleblower in FBI history” as well as describing himself as “one of the nation’s top performing counterintelligence agents at catching and flipping Russian spies,” according to court documents.
Apart from the social media posts, investigators said Buma shared confidential information with multiple media outlets.
Court records show Buma was released on Tuesday on a $100,000 unsecured bond. Buma made his preliminary hearing appearance in New York City, where he did not enter a plea.
The charges have been filed in California, where he is scheduled to make his next appearance at a future date.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.