Posted on 03/31/2017 8:51:38 PM PDT by PA Engineer
State Department Employee Arrested and Charged With Concealing Extensive Contacts With Foreign Agents
A federal complaint was unsealed today charging Candace Marie Claiborne, 60, of Washington, D.C., and an employee of the U.S. Department of State, with obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements to the FBI, both felony offenses, for allegedly concealing numerous contacts that she had over a period of years with foreign intelligence agents.
The charges were announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary B. McCord for National Security, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia and Assistant Director in Charge Andrew W. Vale of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
“Candace Marie Claiborne is a U.S. State Department employee who possesses a Top Secret security clearance and allegedly failed to report her contacts with Chinese foreign intelligence agents who provided her with thousands of dollars of gifts and benefits,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General McCord. “Claiborne used her position and her access to sensitive diplomatic data for personal profit. Pursuing those who imperil our national security for personal gain will remain a key priority of the National Security Division.”
“Candace Claiborne is charged with obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements in connection with her alleged concealment and failure to report her improper connections to foreign contacts along with the tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and benefits they provided,” said U.S. Attorney Phillips. “As a State Department employee with a Top Secret clearance, she received training and briefing about the need for caution and transparency. This case demonstrates that U.S. government employees will be held accountable for failing to honor the trust placed in them when they take on such sensitive assignments”
“Candace Claiborne is accused of violating her oath of office as a State Department employee, who was entrusted with Top Secret information when she purposefully mislead federal investigators about her significant and repeated interactions with foreign contacts," said Assistant Director in Charge Vale. "The FBI will continue to investigate individuals who, though required by law, fail to report foreign contacts, which is a key indicator of potential insider threats posed by those in positions of public trust.”
The FBI arrested Claiborne on March 28. She made her first appearance this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
According to the affidavit in support of the complaint and arrest warrant, which was unsealed today, Claiborne began working as an Office Management Specialist for the Department of State in 1999. She has served overseas at a number of posts, including embassies and consulates in Baghdad, Iraq, Khartoum, Sudan, and Beijing and Shanghai, China. As a condition of her employment, Claiborne maintains a Top Secret security clearance. Claiborne also is required to report any contacts with persons suspected of affiliation with a foreign intelligence agency.
Despite such a requirement, the affidavit alleges, Claiborne failed to report repeated contacts with two intelligence agents of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), even though these agents provided tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and benefits to Claiborne and her family over five years. According to the affidavit, the gifts and benefits included cash wired to Claiborne’s USAA account, an Apple iPhone and laptop computer, Chinese New Year’s gifts, meals, international travel and vacations, tuition at a Chinese fashion school, a fully furnished apartment, and a monthly stipend. Some of these gifts and benefits were provided directly to Claiborne, the affidavit alleges, while others were provided through a co-conspirator.
According to the affidavit, Claiborne noted in her journal that she could “Generate 20k in 1 year” working with one of the PRC agents, who, shortly after wiring $2,480 to Claiborne, tasked her with providing internal U.S. Government analyses on a U.S.-Sino Strategic Economic Dialogue that had just concluded.
Claiborne, who allegedly confided to a co-conspirator that the PRC agents were “spies,” willfully misled State Department background investigators and FBI investigators about her contacts with those agents, the affidavit states. After the State Department and FBI investigators contacted her, Claiborne also instructed her co-conspirators to delete evidence connecting her to the PRC agents, the affidavit alleges.
Charges contained in a criminal complaint are merely allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The maximum penalty for a person convicted of obstructing an official proceeding is 20 years in prison. The maximum penalty for making false statements to the FBI is five years in prison. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. If convicted of any offense, the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
At her court appearance today, Claiborne pleaded not guilty before the Honorable Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather. A preliminary hearing was set for April 18.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office is leading the investigation into this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John L. Hill and Thomas A. Gillice for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Julie Edelstein of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
This woman is in deep, DEEP Shiite!
Sing, Little Birdie! SING! :)
“There are two kinds of people in this world; those who consider government to be a necessary evil, and those who consider government to be their personal Ponzi scheme.”
+1 *APPLAUSE*
Agreed, but it all depends where her “need to know” would take her.
We agree, many crooks are stupid.
Arrest her, try her, find her guilty and let her turn over others like her to get a reduced sentence.
Then repeat the process until the guilty come forward to plead guilty and beg for fewer years in jail.
LS fyi and to send it up the line.
just the tip of the iceberg. just a minnow in the swamp... gotta get the gators and the bottom feeding carp like Schumer and Lendsey McCain.
Most ethical government in the history of the United States. Yeah.
Yes, remember Robert Hansen was a Soviet spy for around 20 years and only asked for 1.4 mil in cash and diamonds. He could have done better with Amway or Tupperware! I’ve always loved the line from A Man for All Seasons: “It profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world ... but for Wales, Richard?”
“She looks looks like such a happy party girl. “
She looks like a thick skulled diss’n beotch to me.
From that link:
“This is the perfect example of how uninformed people can twist the facts..
41.6% black people are on welfare while representing only 12% of the population..
Think about that... White people make up 63% of the population.. The white population only participates at 13.2%”
Derz dem Repzerationz deh ben wanntun... for YEARS NOW
Typical result of affirmative-action, equal-opportunity. To top it off this freak is a traitor. When found guilty, hang her at the front door of state department. Let hervrot...as warning to other slime.
Hired during Clinton Admin., and apparently kept during the Bush Admin. There are quite a few US black Muslims. Many chose Islam because the Christian Bible was used to justify slavery. For some it is more political than religious.
Yet Hillary walks free without a care in the world...
Seemed to miss this with all the “noise” and “misdirection” the past couple of days. She was hired during the Clinton Administration. Hmmm.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hang the traitor.
Blindfold, cigarette, bang.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No need to wast ammo. A tree and a rope will do just fine.
>> [prosecute and turn the arrogant zealot]
Indeed, but I’m doubtful the GOP has the balls.
For decades now, I believed the GOP doesn’t fight for reasons of blackmail and various other threats. And what we know today supports my suspicions.
Sure throw out a few small fries. Where is the meat of the many massive illegal, immoral activities being offered up from the criminals abounding in DC?
chicoms told her she could generate 20k a year.
Pretty damn cheap rate for traitors.
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