Ex-CIA official Rush pleads guilty, admits revealing human source

Deal requires nearly $200 million in restitution and asset forfeiture

The wire fraud charge stems from a scheme in which Rush used government funds to acquire South Florida real estate for personal profit, according to court filings. Rush “fabricated a highly classified program to justify the acquisition of luxury real estate in South Florida, which he then intended to resell for personal profit,” the filing states. He “effectively acted as his own approving official, enabling him to expend substantial amounts of United States government money without meaningful scrutiny.” He then used “fraudulently obtained” public funds to acquire luxury real estate properties in southern Florida, the filing states.

The plea deal also requires Rush to confess to providing top-secret data to “a foreign government official who was not authorised to receive it and had no need to know it.” Court filings show he revealed the existence and description of a “clandestine human source” to the foreign official. “The defendant will plead guilty because the defendant is in fact guilty of the charged offense,” prosecutors wrote in the filing outlining the deal.

“The disclosure of such information could endanger the safety and life of the human source and the US government officers working with the source and jeopardize the US government’s ability to recruit human sources, who rely on the US government’s assurances of absolute secrecy,” prosecutors wrote. The disclosure, prosecutors said, could have caused “grave damage” to national security.

FBI investigators said Rush made repeated requests between November 2025 and March 2026 for “a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses.” A raid on his home following his May 2026 arrest uncovered 298 gold bars that he had received for those purposes, valued at more than $40 million (£30.1 million), along with $2 million in cash and 35 luxury watches.

The wire transfer charge was specifically related to a $45 million transfer that Rush initiated in January 2026. Prosecutors said Rush was moving funds into commodities that could be easily traded, citing “strong evidence” that he was trying to hide the money. Under the plea deal, he is required to surrender the watches and two BMW vehicles, along with the cash and nearly $39 million that was seized from his bank account.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a news release that Rush “abused his position and betrayed the public trust and should be held fully accountable for his actions.”

Rush was initially charged with theft of public funds. A federal judge will set his sentence at a later date, with a sentencing hearing scheduled for January 28. The wire fraud charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, though prosecutors noted the time can be added to under federal law.

In June, US Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick cited Rush’s professional career in ruling that he was a flight risk and ordered him held in jail pending trial. “He’s in a different position than most people to flee and avoid detection by law enforcement,” Fitzpatrick said.

Court records describe Rush as a former senior executive in a US government agency in Virginia who held top-secret clearance and had access to classified information. US media have confirmed his former employment with the CIA. According to The Washington Post, he was a senior executive in the agency’s Directorate of Science and Technology, which develops high-tech spy tools.

Rush had also previously been accused of fraudulently taking military leave with pay after being honorably discharged from the US Navy, and of lying about his education and military service when applying for his government position in 2009. Court records show Rush was accused of falsely telling employers he had been a Navy pilot. “These and other representations concerning Rush’s military and academic accomplishments were false,” the plea deal filing states.

The government has argued that large sums of the funds are still unaccounted for, a claim Rush’s lawyer has denied. The BBC contacted Rush’s lawyer, who declined to comment.