CNN
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A retired Air Force colonel who kept files containing classified information in his Florida home is set to plead guilty in February to charges of illegally retaining national defense information, according to court documents.
Defendant Robert Burcham has served in the Air Force for over 30 years and previously held a top secret clearance. According to his plea bargain, he kept hundreds of files containing information marked as top secret, secret, or top secret classified outside of authorized locations.
In 2017, investigators found a thumb drive, two hard drives, and paper documents containing classified information in the possession of Barcham’s home, court documents say. According to the petition, two of his files on a thumb drive in Barcham’s home contained information about the National Security Agency’s “collection methods and target vulnerability identification methods.”
CNN has reached out to Barcham’s attorneys for comment.
A trial is scheduled for Feb. 21 in Florida District Court, where he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Daily Beast first reported About plea bargaining.
The case came to an end as Washington was embroiled in a dispute over the handling of classified documents by President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. The Department of Justice is investigating Pence’s case.
Although Barcham had obtained top-secret clearance through various Air Force positions, including an intelligence officer, “the defendant’s residence was not a place authorized to store classified information, nor was the defendant aware of the same.” ,” said the plea bargain. .
On his home hard drive, investigators found 10 files containing “information marked as confidential” pursuant to the contract, and 48 paper documents containing information also marked as confidential. Investigators say they found 135 of his files marked as containing classified information on a thumb drive recovered from his home.
Separately, at a temporary overseas residence outside of a designated Classified Intelligence Facility (SCIF), investigators found another hard drive containing 117 files containing classified national defense information. said.
Bircham retired from the Air Force in 2018, according to court filings. An Air Force spokesperson declined to comment.
