Intelligence

Espionage in the Aloha State? <em>U.S. v. Bishop</em>

Raffaela Wakeman
Wednesday, March 20, 2013, 10:28 AM
Filed March 14th in the U.S. District Court of Hawaii: a criminal complaint against a civilian defense contractor, Benjamin Bishop, for unlawfully leaking national security secrets to his girlfriend.  The latter, a Chinese national, allegedly works for the People's Republic of China---but has not yet been located.
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Filed March 14th in the U.S. District Court of Hawaii: a criminal complaint against a civilian defense contractor, Benjamin Bishop, for unlawfully leaking national security secrets to his girlfriend.  The latter, a Chinese national, allegedly works for the People's Republic of China---but has not yet been located. The AP first reported the story. The complaint was unsealed recently, on the government's motion.  It alleges, among other things, that Bishop unlawfully retained documents relating to the national defense; and further that he disclosed classified information to his girlfriend, including:
  • "existing war plans, information regarding nuclear weapons, and relations with international partners" (classified at SECRET)
  • "planned deployment of U.S. strategic nuclear systems, as well as the ability of the U.S. to detect low and medium range ballistic missiles of foreign governments" (classified at SECRET)
  • "the deployment of U.S. early warning radar systems in the Pacific rim and the ability of the U.S. to detect short and medium range ballistic missiles of foreign governments" (classified at SECRET)
  • "the proposed deployment of a U.S. radar system in the Pacific rim" (classified at SECRET)
The complaint also says that, at his girlfriend's request, Bishop collected classified intelligence from his work space on the "operation of a particular naval asset of the People's Republic of China." Bishop is in federal custody.  A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 1.
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Raffaela Wakeman

Raffaela Wakeman

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Raffaela Wakeman is a Senior Director at In-Q-Tel. She started her career at the Brookings Institution, where she spent five years conducting research on national security, election reform, and Congress. During this time she was also the Associate Editor of Lawfare. From there, Raffaela practiced law at the U.S. Department of Defense for four years, advising her clients on privacy and surveillance law, cybersecurity, and foreign liaison relationships. She departed DoD in 2019 to join the Majority Staff of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where she oversaw the Intelligence Community’s science and technology portfolios, cybersecurity, and surveillance activities. She left HPSCI in May 2021 to join IQT. Raffaela received her BS and MS in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009 and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2015, where she was recognized for her commitment to public service with the Joyce Chiang Memorial Award. While at the Department of Defense, she was the inaugural recipient of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s General Counsel Award for exhibiting the highest standards of leadership, professional conduct, and integrity.

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