FBI Agent Accused of Leaking Classified Information Arrested While Trying to Leave the Country

Recently, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent was arrested on suspicion of unauthorized disclosure of classified information. The agent, who had previously accused the FBI of political bias during President Trump’s first term, was identified as Johnathan Buma, a veteran with 15 years of service at the FBI.

According to court documents filed on March 18, Buma was arrested on March 17 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) as he was preparing to depart the country. It was alleged that Buma had written a manuscript about his career as an FBI agent and shared internal FBI documents and other sensitive information while circulating the manuscript to others.

The manuscript reportedly contained information obtained by Buma in his capacity as an FBI agent, including details related to the FBI’s investigation and efforts regarding certain foreign weapons of mass destruction. The court documents stated that beginning in October 2023, Buma printed around 130 documents from the FBI’s internal network, some of which contained sensitive details provided by confidential informants, clearly marked as “protected information.”

Additionally, Buma printed 9 documents containing text copied and pasted from reports marked as protected information, which included intelligence provided by confidential informants. After obtaining these materials, Buma allegedly notified FBI supervisors of his intention to take unpaid leave and subsequently left the office.

Authorities reported that over the next few months, Buma distributed the manuscript via email to several individuals assisting him in negotiating publishing deals, authorizing them to share confidential information.

These charges were filed in the Central District of California federal district court, where Buma has a residence. Prior to the alleged misconduct, Buma had publicly criticized the FBI. In July 2023, during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he accused senior FBI officials of suppressing his collection and handling of investigative information related to Trump’s former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and claimed retaliation against him.

In his testimony before the Senate committee, Buma mentioned, “I don’t quite understand why I would be targeted, and I don’t know specifically who’s driving all of this. But I have strong reason to suspect that one or more of my sources provided accurate information that was not favorable to individuals within the bureau who were trying to cover up.”

During an interview with Business Insider in September 2023, Buma recalled an incident from four years prior when he submitted information about potential criminal activities in the business dealings between Hunter Biden, son of former President Biden, and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, to a supervisor at the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.

Buma claimed that his supervisor was “very interested” in the information and “strongly” urged further investigation. According to Buma, during the same meeting, when he suggested that Giuliani may have been “penetrated” in a Russian counter-influence operation, his supervisor immediately stopped him from continuing.

As part of the investigation into Buma’s alleged leak of classified information, the FBI searched Buma’s residence in California in November 2023. At that time, Buma’s attorney, Scott Horton, denied any wrongdoing on his client’s part and asserted that the search did not uncover any classified materials.

Currently, efforts to contact Buma’s attorney for comment on the case have been unsuccessful. The U.S. Department of Justice has not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.