Jessica Aber, a Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney who was found dead in her Virginia home this past weekend, was known for spearheading high-profile investigations into CIA intelligence leaks, war crime allegations tied to individuals linked with Russia, and suspects involved in transferring sensitive U.S. technology to Moscow.
Jessica Aber, 43, was found unresponsive on Saturday morning.
“This morning, at approximately 9:18 a.m., Alexandria Police responded to the 900 block of Beverley Drive for the report of an unresponsive woman. Officers located a deceased woman. Following notification of family members, the Alexandria Police Department can confirm the identity of the woman as Ms. Jessica Aber, age 43, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia,” police said.
APD Statement regarding Beverley Drive Death Investigation pic.twitter.com/86iNsUzQyO
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) March 22, 2025
Alexandria Police responded to a call about an unresponsive woman at Aber’s residence on Beverley Drive, Alexandria, Virginia.
Officers found her dead, and the department initiated an investigation as a matter of protocol, with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia tasked with determining the cause and manner of death.
A family friend told CBS News that her death is believed to be the result of a longstanding medical issue, and two former senior Justice Department officials informed NBC News that authorities have found no reason to suspect foul play.
Read more:
New Update on Biden-Appointed US Attorney Found Dead in Her Virginia Home
Aber, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia until her resignation in January.
The timing of Aber’s death, just two months after resigning and amid her involvement in sensitive cases, has sparked discussion.
Aber secured a guilty plea from ex-CIA analyst Asif Rahman, who endangered American lives by leaking top-secret documents detailing Israel’s planned strike on Iran. Aber rightly condemned Rahman’s betrayal as a “violation of his oath, his responsibility, and the law,” emphasizing the grave risks such leaks pose to U.S. foreign relations and intelligence operations.
DOJ wrote in the press release:
A former CIA analyst pleaded guilty today to retaining and transmitting Top Secret National Defense Information to people who were not entitled to receive it, information which was publicly posted on a social media platform in October 2024.
According to court documents, Asif William Rahman, 34, of Vienna, was an employee of the CIA since 2016 and had a Top-Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).
[…]
“Asif Rahman is pleading guilty in federal court three months to the day that he disclosed top secret American documents in violation of his oath, his responsibility, and the law,” said U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This District, in partnership with federal law enforcement and the intelligence community, exemplified dedication, skill, and speed to bring him to justice expeditiously. Mr. Rahman’s actions placed lives at risk, undermined U.S. foreign relations, and compromised our ability to collect vital intelligence in the future.”
According to court documents, on Oct. 17, 2024, Rahman accessed and printed two Top Secret documents containing National Defense Information regarding a U.S. foreign ally and its planned actions against a foreign adversary. Rahman removed the documents, photographed them, and transmitted them to individuals he knew were not entitled to receive them. By Oct. 18, 2024, the documents appeared publicly on multiple social media platforms, complete with the classification markings.
After Oct. 17, 2024, Rahman deleted and edited journal entries and written work product on his personal electronic devices to conceal his personal opinions on U.S. policy and drafted entries to construct a false narrative regarding his activity. Rahman also destroyed multiple electronic devices, including a personal mobile device and an internet router he used to transmit classified information and photographs of classified documents, and discarded the destroyed devices in public trash receptacles in an effort to thwart potential investigations into him and his unlawful conduct.
Beginning in the spring of 2024 and continuing through November 2024, Rahman repeatedly accessed and printed classified National Defense Information, including documents classified up to the Top Secret level, to take them to his residence. There, Rahman reproduced the documents and, while doing so, altered them in an effort to conceal their source and his activity. Rahman then communicated Top Secret information that he learned in the course of his employment to multiple individuals he knew were not entitled to receive it.
Aber also targeted Eleview International Inc., a company based in Virginia. According to the Department of Justice, two of its executives were charged with orchestrating “three separate schemes to illegally reroute sensitive American technology to Russia.”
DOJ wrote in the press release in 2024:
Eleview International Inc., Oleg Nayandin, 54, of Fairfax, Virginia, and Vitaliy Borisenko, 39, of Vienna, Virginia, made their initial appearance today in the Eastern District of Virginia pursuant to a now unsealed complaint charging them with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act.
“We must not allow critical systems and technologies to be transferred to anyone who may use them against America and our global partners,” said Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Guarding against these transfers is imperative, and violations of the laws that protect our national security will be met with ardent prosecution.”
[…]
According to the complaint, between approximately March 2022 and June 2023, Eleview International Inc. (Eleview), a Virginia-based company that operated a freight consolidation and forwarding business; Nayandin, the owner, president, and CEO of Eleview; and Borisenko, who oversaw the day-to-day operations of Eleview’s freight forwarding business, allegedly conspired to illegally export goods and technology from the United States to Russia by transshipping them through three countries bordering or near Russia.
As alleged, the defendants operated an e-commerce website that allowed Russian customers to order U.S. goods and technology directly from U.S. retailers, who shipped the items to Eleview’s warehouse in Chantilly. The defendants then allegedly consolidated the packages before shipping them to the Russian customers, often using other freight forwarders as intermediaries, in exchange for a fee. After the Department of Commerce imposed stricter export controls in response to Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the defendants allegedly began shipping items to purported end users in Turkey, Finland, and Kazakhstan, knowing that the items were ultimately destined for end users in Russia. To facilitate these illegal exports, the defendants allegedly made numerous false statements to the Department of Commerce and other freight forwarders about the end users and ultimate consignees of the items in these shipments.
Aber was also instrumental in indicting Russian nationals Sergey Ivanov and Timur Shakhmametov for orchestrating one of the largest online money laundering operations, which facilitated cybercrime and ransomware attacks targeting critical U.S. financial infrastructure.
She was also involved in prosecuting dual U.S.-Russian citizens for exporting firearm parts to Russia without authorization and indicting Russian nationals for money laundering networks.
“According to court documents, from at least July 2020 to 2023, Dimitry Timashev, 58, coordinated with an associate in Russia to send weapon parts from the United States to Russia. In exchange, the associate paid tuition for Timashev’s daughter and rent for an apartment in Ekaterinburg, Russia,” DOJ wrote.
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