I see where the OP has made that claim, and the timing works out, but I don’t see a cite for that claim. Just the OP’s assertion.
I’m not very familiar with nuclear technology, but the information is usually covered by the ‘restricted’ designation. This is the first mention I’ve heard in this case of classified data (albeit the lowest level). It may be tangential to the nuke-related information, which might be of greater value.
Since they mention translating into the target country’s language, we can conclude it wasn’t Australia.
In the US Navy, nuclear propulsion data can range from unclassified (but still restricted by other markings - most commonly NOFORN which means no foreign nationals can see it) up through classified TOP SECRET and probably beyond.
Source - I was a nuclear trained submarine officer.
This alone rules out China.
Whatever political motivation they may have had, they were asking for a hell of a lot of money, so greed apparently tops the list.
I apologize for this poor translation into your language. I added as many ‘G’day Mates,’ 'billabongs, ‘no wuckas,’ and ‘brekkies’ as I could, but I fear I put them in the wrong places.
The bit about translation might have been to mislead the other country. Or not.
Why Guys Spy? “MICE;” Money, Ideology, Compromise, Excitement. It seems there two wanted money and talked ideology.
You think the other nation might have been Israel? They are probably pretty jumpy about another Pollard.
I think that’s more than likely.
Why would Israel want nuclear-sub technology from spies? It has no intention of getting a nuclear sub fleet.
The husband holds top secret DoD security clearance, per p. 10 of the affidavit, and he was trying to establish a long term relationship with the foreign country. But as far as things on the SD card he actually left in a sandwich,
The U.S. Navy determined that multiple documents on the SD card contained Restricted Data. Specifically, the U.S. Navy subject matter expert determined that several of the documents contained militarily sensitive design elements, operating parameters, and performance characteristics of Virginia-class submarine reactors.
~Max
Remember, COUNTRY 1 wasn’t the one who initiated the espionage.
IIRC “Restricted” is a catch-all term that includes both Classified info and unclassified info that still has markings (such as previously mentioned NOFORN) meant to restrict access.
I remember the acronym as SMICE, the “S” being for sex. I guess since they were married, they were no longer interested in sex.
And they would have left the card in a beer can.
I’m mostly surprised he was able to copy that stuff to an SD card without them knowing. Aren’t those computers usually pretty locked down?
It may have been in his line of work. Unlike Snowden this isn’t a contractor, but as I understand it an employee of the Navy.
~Max
Ah, but “Restricted Data” (note both words capitalized) is:
per https://www.directives.doe.gov/terms_definitions/restricted-data
“Restricted Data” is called out in the reported findings, and the highlighted portion of the definition above is why: detailed information about military nuclear reactors is Restricted Data.
Anybody remember the Toshiba Machine submarine scandal in the early 1990s?
I read a number of articles and the evidence seems pretty thin.
The Loebbes began offering to sell military secrets in April 2020. If their motive was Trump’s election, they waited until pretty late in his term.
It’s clear that Diane Toebbe doesn’t like Trump. She posted about people voting against Trump on her Facebook page. But she wasn’t fanatical about it; she wasn’t calling for a revolution or an assassination.
As far as I can tell, neither Dianne or Jonathan Toebbe has said that opposition to Trump was a motive for their crime.
I’ve seen other, unrelated, news stories - arrests for spying, hitmen, etc where the arrested was agreeing to whatever they were arrested for for a relative pittance. Personally, I wouldn’t even consider 15, or more, years of my life in the clink for only $1000 or $2500, even if I was otherwise so inclined to spy or kill someone. Big risks deserve big rewards, IMO.
I’m just going to back @iiandyiiii up on this and note that, as a fellow former nuke officer (albeit one fit to see the light of day) Confidential tends to be the go-to classification level for naval nuclear reactors. If I had to hazard a guess as to why the charging docs specify “Restricted Data” upper case, I might suggest that maybe that’s the term that whatever statute that regulates and makes it illegal to share nuclear info uses? Like, a term of art?
It may also be they just don’t want to give away or signal just how significant the leaked info was, particularly if greater specificity is not required by law.