An active-duty soldier stationed at Texas’s Fort Bliss was arrested Wednesday in El Paso on charges of espionage for allegedly attempting to transmit national defense information about United States tanks to Russia.
The Justice Department announced that Taylor Adam Lee, 22, who held a top-secret security clearance, allegedly tried to share sensitive information about the U.S. Army’s M1A2 Abrams tank with someone he believed represented the Russian government. He is accused of passing an SD card filled with controlled technical data and classified material during a July meeting, later delivering what appeared to be tank hardware and texting “Mission accomplished.”
From May to July, Lee allegedly attempted to establish contact with Russia’s Ministry of Defense, offering assistance and saying he would “even volunteer to assist the Russian Federation” if given the chance. Prosecutors said he transmitted technical information online in June and met in person the following month with an undercover agent posing as a Russian official.
Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, said Lee believed he would obtain Russian citizenship in exchange for the classified information.
Lee made his initial court appearance Wednesday, and officials said he could face severe federal penalties if convicted. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Laura Enriquez.
According to the FBI, the SD card contained sensitive documents related to the Abrams tank, other combat vehicles, and U.S. military operations. Several of the files were labeled Controlled Unclassified Information, while others were believed to be classified.
In 2023, the U.S. military sent Ukraine more than 30 M1A1 Abrams tanks, an older model of the M1A2 tanks. Russian forces fought against those U.S. tanks operated by Ukrainian forces in the war there.
Earlier in the Russia-Ukraine war, former Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira was given a 15-year prison sentence for leaking hundreds of classified documents online over several months. He pleaded guilty in March 2024 to six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to national security.
Some of the documents he released pertained to the war, including classified details about Russian and Ukrainian battlefield movements.
DOJ officials stressed the seriousness of the charges against Lee, with Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg saying he “sought to transmit sensitive national defense information” to a foreign adversary.
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“This arrest is an alarming reminder of the serious threat facing our U.S. Army,” said Brig. Gen. Sean Stinchon of the Army Counterintelligence Command. He added that soldiers who violate their oath and become “insider threats” will always be brought to justice.
Prosecutors from the National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas are handling the prosecution.
Mike Brest contributed to this report.
