Prosecutors Say NSA Contractor Could Flee To Foreign Power (go.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from ABC News: The NSA contractor accused of stealing a gargantuan amount of sensitive and classified data from the U.S. government was studying Russian before he was arrested and would be a "prime target" for foreign spies should he be released on bail, prosecutors argued ahead of a court hearing for Harold Martin, III, today. The government said it is "readily apparent to every foreign counterintelligence professional and nongovernmental actor that the Defendant has access to highly classified information, whether in his head, in still-hidden physical locations, or stored in cyberspace -- and he has demonstrated absolutely no interest in protecting it. This makes the Defendant a prime target, and his release would seriously endanger the safety of the country and potentially even the Defendant himself." Prosecutors noted that Martin purportedly communicated online "with others in languages other than English, including in Russian" and that he had downloaded information on the Russian language just a couple months before he was arrested in August. Martin's attorneys, however, said in their own court filing Thursday that there is still no evidence he "intended to betray his country" and argued that he was not a flight risk. All the talk of foreign spies and potential getaway plans, the defense said, were "fantastical scenarios." Martin's defense team said in part: "The government concocts fantastical scenarios in which Mr. Martin -- who, by the government's own admission, does not possess a valid passport -- would attempt to flee the country. Mr. Martin's wife is here in Maryland. His home is here in Maryland. He hash served this country honorably as a lieutenant in the United States Navy, and he has devoted his entire career to serving his country. There is no evidence he intended to betray his country. The government simply does not meet its burden of showing that no conditions of release would reasonably assure Mr. Martin's future appearance in court. For these reasons, and additional reasons to be discussed at the detention hearing, Mr. Martin should be released on conditions pending trial."

UPDATE 10/21/16: Slashdot reader chromaexursion writes: "Harold Martin was denied bail. The judge agreed the the prosecution in his decision."

Comments

Flee to another country

[ChrisMaple]

Do you know what it takes to flee to another country? Go to the Mexico border at any of the well established public border crossings and walk across, along with hundreds of other people. No fuss, no problem.

Re:Flee to another country

[PrimaryConsult]

Yup they have a subway style one way turnstile to get to Mexico at San Ysidro / Tijuana. The Mexican gov't has some scary looking guys with assault rifles checking bags, but if you have no bags you can just walk right past without needing to even say hello (or hola). You'll be eating fresh churros before the trolley that took you to the border has even left for it's return trip. With a few hundred Benjamins in your pockets you'll be set for a few months.

That said, you'd better have a strategy for getting out of Mexico asap. The Federales love to find American fugitives and turn them in. IIRC the 'affluenza' teen and his mom were caught down there...

Next President

[ninthbit]

Why flee.... It sounds like he's a good candidate to be our next President. Did he at least store the data on a sever that has Internet access?

Oh oh... His defense could be that he didn't want it to get accidentally deleted by the next administration. He was creating a backup!!!