A former US Army veteran, Courtney Williams, 40, from Wagram, North Carolina, was indicted on Wednesday for allegedly providing classified national defense information to a journalist. The leaked information was used in a book exposing drug trafficking, murder, and corruption within a military unit where she had been employed.
Williams, who served from 2010 to 2016 at the US Army base in Fort Bragg, held a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance. The federal grand jury charged her with violating the US Espionage Act by transmitting classified information to unauthorized individuals, including a journalist.
Between 2022 and 2025, Williams reportedly engaged in extensive communications with the journalist, including over 10 hours of phone calls and more than 180 text messages. These exchanges were part of the journalist’s investigation for an article and book about the special military unit.
Although court documents did not name the reporter, journalist Seth Harp authored a book published last year titled “The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces,” which identified Williams as a source and attributed specific statements to her. The Justice Department claims some of these statements contained classified national defense information. Additionally, Williams allegedly made unauthorized disclosures through her social media accounts.
Following the indictment, Harp described Williams as a “courageous whistleblower” who revealed widespread gender discrimination and sexual harassment within the US Army’s Delta Force. Harp also noted that Williams wanted to be identified by name and dismissed the charges as “vague and weak.”
The Justice Department highlighted messages from Williams expressing concern over the volume of classified information being revealed and her fear of potential arrest. Williams also admitted to operating a stash house for illegal narcotics from her residence in North Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Williams signed classified information non-disclosure agreements both upon joining and leaving the special military unit. This case emerges amid ongoing debates about government transparency and the treatment of whistleblowers, reflecting a history of legal actions against leak sources dating back to the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War and continuing through recent conflicts such as the Iraq war logs.
