Former NC Army employee charged with leaking classified defense information

Twumasi Duah-Mensah, The News & Observer on Apr 8, 2026

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A North Carolina woman and former U.S. Army employee is accused of giving classified national defense information to individuals not authorized to receive it.

Courtney Williams, 40, was arrested Tuesday and indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a Wednesday news release.

Williams worked for a Special Military Unit (SMU) from 2010 to 2016 and held a security clearance for top secret information. She lives in the Scotland County town of Wagram.

Despite signing a Classified Nondisclosure Agreement, Williams logged over 10 hours of phone calls and exchanged over 180 text messages with a journalist between 2022 and 2025, the DOJ said.

The DOJ does not name the journalist, but POLITICO investigative reporter Seth Harp published a 2025 book, “The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces,” where a woman named Courtney Williams detailed harassment she faced in Delta Force, a covert commando unit of the Army.

The journalist attributed classified information to Williams, the DOJ said. Williams also allegedly disclosed classified information on her social media accounts. The day the book was published, Williams allegedly texted the journalist that she was “concerned about the amount of classified information being disclosed.”

Williams texted different people that she might get arrested for disclosing classified information and was “probably going to jail for life,” the DOJ said. When asked how she knew, Williams allegedly texted “I have known my entire career” and “they tell you everyday ... 100 times a day.”

The FBI Charlotte Field Office is investigating Williams. If convicted, she could serve up to 10 years in federal prison.

“The tradecraft, tactics, and techniques used by the U.S. military unit in this case are classified and should be shared only with those with proper clearances and a need to know in order to protect American lives and safeguard classified National Defense information,” FBI Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina Reid Davis said.

“These are serious accusations. Anyone divulging information they vowed to protect to a reporter for publication is reckless, self-serving and damages our nation’s security,” Davis said.