A former Fort Bragg employee with top-secret clearance is accused of leaking classified military tactics to a journalist, then admitting to her mother that she could be arrested for exposing sensitive operations, according to a federal complaint.
Courtney P. Williams, 40, an Army veteran assigned to a Special Military Unit (SMU) at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday and charged with unlawfully transmitting national defense information, including classified tactics used in covert missions, to an investigative reporter over a period spanning several years, federal prosecutors allege.
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According to the complaint, Williams held a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance and had direct access to highly sensitive operational details, including tactics, techniques, and procedures—commonly known as TTPs—used by elite military units.
Williams allegedly violated 18 U.S.C. § 793(d), the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a news release Wednesday.
Investigators allege that between 2022 and 2025, Williams communicated extensively with a journalist, including phone calls lasting hundreds of minutes and roughly 180 text messages, while also sending documents and materials that were later published in an article and book identifying her as the source.
FBI Director Kash Patel took to X on Wednesday after the arrest, saying the Bureau “will not tolerate” leakers of classified intel.
“Let this serve as a message to any would-be leakers: we’re working these cases, and we’re making arrests,” Patel wrote. “This FBI will not tolerate those who seek to betray our country and put Americans in harm’s way.”
The Associated Press reported that while the journalist is not named in the court filings, “dates and details match” both an article and book written by Seth Harp about the Army’s Delta Force.
An excerpt from Harp’s book, “The Fort Bragg Cartel,” was published in Politico’s magazine last August under the title “My Life Became a Living Hell: One Woman’s Career in Delta Force, the Army’s Most Elite Unit,” featuring Williams’ testimonials alleging sexual harassment while serving.
Harp released a statement to WRAL-TV about Williams, calling her a “brave whistleblower and truth-teller,” despite reported reservations she shared with the journalist after the book was published.
“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,” Harp’s statement read.
The published materials, according to the government, contained classified information at the “SECRET” level with “NOFORN” restrictions, meaning it was not authorized for release to foreign nationals—raising concerns it could be accessed by U.S. adversaries.
“Clearance holders accept a solemn obligation to protect the classified information entrusted to them,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg in a DOJ release. “That they do so is critical to the security of our nation. When clearance holders violate that trust, the National Security Division will act swiftly to hold them accountable.”
Evidence outlined in the complaint includes messages indicating Williams mailed a thumb drive containing materials to the journalist, as well as files saved on her computer labeled “Batch 1 for Reporter” and similar titles, suggesting an organized effort to provide information.
On the day the article and book were published, Williams allegedly texted the journalist expressing concern about the scope of the disclosure, writing that she was troubled by “the amount of classified information being disclosed” and that it felt like “an entire TTP was sent out in my name.”
In a separate conversation with her mother, Williams allegedly acknowledged the legal risk more directly.
“I might actually get arrested, and I don’t even get a free copy of the book,” she wrote, adding the legal basis as “for disclosing classified information.”
Authorities say Williams had signed multiple non-disclosure agreements during her time working with the military unit and was explicitly warned that unauthorized disclosure of classified material could violate federal law.
The complaint also notes that the leaked information could pose serious risks, including exposing military personnel to danger and compromising operations if adversaries studied the disclosed tactics.
“The tradecraft, tactics, and techniques used by the U.S. military unit in this case are classified and should be shared only with those with proper clearances and a need to know in order to protect American lives and safeguard classified National Defense information,” said Reid Davis, the FBI Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina.
“These are serious accusations. Anyone divulging information they vowed to protect to a reporter for publication is reckless, self-serving, and damages our nation’s security.”
Authorities say Williams had signed multiple non-disclosure agreements and was warned that releasing classified material could violate federal law.
The FBI Charlotte Field Office is investigating the case, with “valuable assistance” provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina.
