An investigation FBI and the Army Counterintelligence Command has resulted in the arrest of active serviceman Taylor Adam Lee, 22, of El Paso, Texas, on charges of ‘attempted transmission of national defense information to a foreign adversary, and attempted export of controlled technical data without a license.
From the DOJ website:
“According to the criminal complaint, the defendant sought to transmit sensitive national defense information to Russia regarding the operation of the M1A2 Abrams, our Nation’s main battle tank,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “The National Security Division will continue to work with our law enforcement and military partners to ensure that such serious transgressions are met with serious consequences.”
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas: “Our enemies, both foreign and domestic, should be aware that we diligently investigate and aggressively prosecute these cases. I appreciate the investigative work by our partners in the FBI and the Army Counterintelligence Command, and I look forward to continuing our work with them as we proceed with the prosecution of this important case.”
Lee is charged with attempting to provide classified military information on U.S. tank vulnerabilities to someone he mistakenly believed to be a Russian intelligence officer.
The soldier is alleged to have done this in exchange for what he believed was going to be ‘Russian citizenship’.
Lee was stationed at Fort Bliss, and held a Top Secret (TS) and Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) security clearance. Since May 2025, Lee had been allegedly transmitting ‘export-controlled technical information’ on the M1A2 Abrams Tank.
He also offered assistance to the Russian Federation, saying: ‘the USA is not happy with me for trying to expose their weaknesses’, and added, ‘At this point I’d even volunteer to assist the Russian federation when I’m there in any way’.
In July, Lee had an in-person meeting with a fake Russian agent, where the he allegedly passed an SD card to the individual.
The card contained ‘controlled technical data’ that Lee did not have the authorization to provide.
Lee told the fake spy that ‘the information on the SD card was sensitive and likely classified’.
Finally, he endeavored to provide the Russian government with a ‘specific piece of hardware’ from the M1A2 Abrams tank.
“On July 31, 2025, Lee delivered what appeared to be the hardware to a storage unit in El Paso, Texas. After doing so, Lee sent a message to the individual he believed to be a representative of the Russian government stating, ‘Mission accomplished’.”
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