US Navy vet and CIA officer pleads guilty after 298 gold bars found in home, authorities allege he exposed secret US source to foreign official

A US Navy veteran and former high-ranking CIA officer has pleaded guilty to fraud, months after federal agents raided his home and made a series of astonishing discoveries. Within the Virginia property were 298 solid gold bars, around $2.1 million in cash, over 104K Euros, and over 30 luxury watches.

David Rush, 49, was arrested and has now pleaded guilty to a fraud scheme that prosecutors allege cost the US government around $194 million. He has also agreed to forfeit the gold, the cash, the watches, several Florida properties, and two BMWs.

The case has troubling implications for national security. NBC News confirms Rush was a top officer at the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology, where he had clearance to work on top secret programs, reportedly relating to his work with the Defense Department on “sensitive military projects”, knowledge he subsequently used to enrich himself.

“Rush effectively acted as his own approving official”

As the plea agreement details, Rush invented a highly classified program actually designed to funnel huge amounts of money into his personal accounts. As the document says: “Rush effectively acted as his own approving official, enabling him to expend substantial amounts of United States government money without meaningful scrutiny.

But it gets worse. The investigation after Rush’s arrest discovered that he’d invented details of his education and military service records, and the CIA hadn’t realized. NBC notes “a wave of shock and anxiety” through the CIA, as if his fraudster can lie his way into becoming a top officer handling material critical to national security, why can’t others?

Though Rush has admitted to the fraud, prosecutors also allege Rush exposed a secret US intelligence source to an unnamed foreign official. There are no further details on that claim, and we don’t know what country the foreign official works for, but once again this raises the unpleasant suspicion that if Rush did that once, could he have done it on other occasions too?

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said yesterday that the agency “immediately” referred the case to the FBI after an internal investigation exposed Rush. He went on to slam Rush, saying he “abused his position and betrayed the public trust and should be held fully accountable for his actions.”

As of writing, it’s unclear what the next steps will be. We are presumably now waiting for a sentencing hearing to be listed as a judge considers an appropriate punishment, though that’s dependent on the terms of the plea deal. It is also unclear whether there will be further charges for treason in relation to Rush exposing intelligence sources to the foreign official.