If you’re a former member of the U.S. military or a civilian who was entrusted with some pretty serious security clearances, it’s probably not a good idea to save top-secret documents on your computer with the file names “Batch 1 for Reporter” and “Batch 2 for Reporter.” Also, it’s probably not a good idea to put any communication to a reporter, which you want to conceal, in writing. But a veteran of U.S. Army Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and former civilian employee named Courtney Williams allegedly did just that, and much more.
CBS News reports that Williams faces a charge of one count of “illegally communicating or transmitting national defense information, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison if convicted.”
In their criminal complaint, federal prosecutors allege that Williams disclosed classified information to an unidentified reporter between 2022 and 2024, most of it centered on her work with the U.S. Army’s elite Special Military Unit (SMU) Delta Force. While not identified in the complaint, a journalist named Seth Harp authored a book titled The Fort Bragg Cartel: drug trafficking and murder in the Special Forces, which hit bookstores in August 2025. In the book and in a companion article for Politico, Harp provides explicit detail on Williams’ alleged experiences with sexual harassment and discrimination while she was part of Delta Force.
According to the complaint, the reporter and Williams talked by phone for a total of over 10 hours, and they exchanged roughly 180 text messages that, clearly, Williams would never have wanted to see the light of day with her name attached to them — all between 2022 and 2024.
Case in point: The complaint included a text from the reporter to Williams, which said, “Just wanted to let you know I dropped this in the mail today for the thumb drive. It’s stamped and addressed and ready to be sent back, no need to go to the post office!”
The complaint also mentions Williams’ unimaginative filing system for her top-secret batches of files “for reporter” – 10 of them in all.
The complaint indicates that some of the information was “properly classified as SECRET,” and that “The classified information comprised, in part, specific Tactics, Techniques & Procedures (TTPs) utilized by this (SMU) to execute sensitive missions.”
WRAL-TV reported, “Harp declined an interview, but provided this statement about the charge against Williams: ‘Courtney Williams is a brave whistleblower and truth-teller. 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.’”
Statement on the arrest of Courtney Williams, a brave and patriotic truth-teller who has committed no crime and, if there is any justice in the world, will soon be free from the clutches of Trump’s rogue DOJ pic.twitter.com/NZblU0xmwb
— Seth Harp (@sethharpesq) April 8, 2026
Hold on for one moment. I’ve signed more than a few non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in my day, and depending on the context, violation of an NDA almost always carries with it the real risk of serious legal consequences, be they civil or criminal in nature.
CBS News’ reporting on this story said that Williams signed a Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement in 2010 when she started working for the Army, and again in 2015 when she left her job.
“According to the complaint, Williams worked for the Army between 2010 and 2016 after serving as a contractor and previously enlisting, and held a top secret security clearance,” CBS News reported. “Williams left in 2016, after investigators said she had her access to classified information suspended, ‘based on an internal investigation’ conducted in 2015 and 2016.”
Feds arrested Williams on April 7, and she is now detained until her preliminary hearing on April 13.
🚨 BREAKING: The former SOCOM employee arrested for leaking classified secrets to “journalists” has been identified as Courtney Williams, a US Army veteran
Give her the MAXIMUM penalty.
Putting our troops’ lives at risk should be met HARSH punishments! pic.twitter.com/p9ochBMY9r
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 8, 2026
An FBI affidavit included with the complaint says Williams gave the reporter data via a thumb drive or external hard drive of some sort, which included “documents, photographs, notes, and/or other materials to the Journalist, some of which likely contained classified NDI that was subsequently published in the (Politico) Article and the Book.”
The Politico article mentions Williams’ name at the very start of the piece, where she went on-record, accusing Delta Force and Fort Bragg of fostering an environment that allowed for dubious conduct.
The day Politico published the article, SMU officials reviewed it “and determined that it contained information that is properly classified as SECRET.”
The complaint reveals that Williams texted the reporter about the article, saying, “Other than a few factual errors, I would definitely have been concerned with the amount of classified information being disclosed. I thought the things I was telling you so you could have a better general understanding how the (SMU) was set up or operated would not be published and it feels like an entire TTP was sent out in my name giving them a chance to legally persecute me and probably (Person 1).”
The complaint also indicates Williams texted or emailed her mother, “I might actually get arrested, and I don’t even get a free copy of the book.” Williams indicated her concerns were “for disclosing classified information.”
Once the book came out, the complaint says that Williams sent a text to the reporter saying that she was “concerned with the amount of classified information being disclosed.”
Defense counsel will have a lot of work to do if it tries to say Williams didn’t know whether she was handling classified information.
The left is already trying to position Williams as a patriot whistleblower, while the FBI and the prosecution are framing this as a clear case of a former member of the Army violating the terms of their security clearances, their duty to the safety and security of the country, and two legally binding NDAs she signed.
In the eventual trial, much more will come to light, but at first glance, it seems Williams knew that what she was allegedly doing was wrong and could carry severe consequences. The day she feared may come has come. Now, it’s time to find out.
Related: Nuns Sue New York, Say Its ‘Transgender Rights’ Law Violates the First Amendment
Find out what you’re missing behind the members-only wall! It’s time for you to take advantage of the full catalogue of common-sense thinking that comes with a PJ Media VIP membership. You’ll get access to content you didn’t even know you wanted. The good news is, PJ Media VIP memberships are on sale! Get 60% off an annual VIP, VIP Gold, or VIP Platinum membership with promo code FIGHT!
