Thread by @Jose_Pagliery

At this very moment, a federal judge in Missouri is sentencing a former FBI intelligence analyst for taking home 20 classified documents.

A prosecutor on this case is now on Special Counsel Jack Smith's team targeting former President Trump.

Kendra Kingsbury worked at the FBI's Kansas City field office, where she worked on different squads: drug trafficking, violent crime, violent gangs, and counterintelligence.

At 48 last year, she got indicted on two counts.

There are some parallels to the Trump case.

Feds say Kingsbury took national security info about al Qaeda in Africa (including an apparent Osama bin Laden associate) & activities of terrorists in related groups.

FBI employee in court just now says agents found stuff in her home office, next to a bathroom.

Sound familiar?

Here's some of what FBI agents say they found in Kingsbury's possession. They also found cracked CDs in a trash can. Some 386 classified docs.

This list, by the way, is nowhere near as long as the ones the FBI found at Mar-a-Lago.

In four searches, FBI agents found 20,000 "sensitive" digital and paper docs taken by Kingsbury, most of which were not classified. They were "for official use only" or
"law enforcement sensitive."

She *voluntarily* disclosed this but was dismissed. Kept her security clearance.

I'm tuning in now to the sentencing, which is being held before Judge Stephen R. Bough at the Kansas City federal courthouse.

An FBI employee is describing what Kingsbury did.

Kingsbury worked in counterintel from Sept. 2013-fall 2017.

She faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Here's the indictment: justice.gov/media/1151321/…

At some point, she turned in her personal computer & asked them to destroy it. Govt employee punched a hole through it.

Feds later wished they'd searched it.

"We don't know what's on that computer... there'd be reason to suspect there could be additional docs on that computer."

Kingsbury later said she "may have" had a Top Secret doc at home. Soaked it in water, tore it up, flushed it down the drain.

FBI says that's *not* how it's supposed to be done.

Hmm. Where have I heard this before?

cnn.com/2022/08/08/pol…

FBI thought she might be in contact with "case subjects" & found it odd that she took these docs home.

Feds cite how she asked a coworker to wipe another laptop after it started acting "wonky" after she ran into a "Russian national" at Disneyland.

While investigating her, the FBI grabbed her phone records & found she communicated with 7 suspects, including counterterror targets.

"It was very concerning to us," agent says now in court.

That's where it departs from the Trump case. Feds are hinting at a sinister plot here.

After talking to a "counterterrorism subject" being investigated by another field office, she searched for that person in a "secure FBI database" even though she was never assigned to that case.

FBI: When questioned, she lied about it. Claimed that she occasionally did research that crossed over into work being done by other squads.

"It would only take a second or two tell this counterterrorism subject they're under investigation.... could jeopardize the entire case."

But FBI agent testifying in court right now says they never figured out why she was in contact with these people.

He makes clear that the evidence is damning and the activity was potentially damaging.

Keep in mind, this ex-FBI employee is being charged solely with two counts of 18 USC. § 793(e), Willful Retention of National Defense Information.

By contrast, Trump is facing 31 counts of this same crime.

Remember that when the judge announces her sentence shortly.

Also relevant: Trump is facing a whole lot more, including obstruction of justice conspiracy and lying to the feds.

Kingsbury's publicly-funded federal defender notes that she voluntarily disclosed her classified records collection, permitted 4 searches, & kept updating the feds as she found more docs.

(Remember, Trump refused to work with NARA, hid docs from DOJ & lied to his own attorney)

Prosecutors are recommending imprisoning her for 57 months--just shy of 5 years.

They cite "the gravity of the situation," because she "kept them in an insecure space in her home."

"Anyone who was in her home could have stumbled upon those documents."

May I turn your attention to the former president's bathroom:

Prosecutors: "The question that remains is, what was the defendant doing?"

"We will never know if the information ... was used against the interests of the United States."

Meanwhile, Kingbury's defense lawyer reiterates that she "opened up her home" and "opened herself up to an investigation."

"She essentially turned herself in," Marc Ermine says.

Judge Bough is frustrated that he's hearing two totally different stories:

• a rogue FBI analyst stealing documents and chatting with the wrong people

vs

• a govt employee who sought the bureau's help when she thought Russians were hacking her & hoped to get back to work

What's glaring in this hearing is what's missing: any description of what was in these classified records marked [SECRET].

The average American would care about how damning or serious this info is.

Given the secrecy involved, we just won't know.

Judge asks why in the world she did it.

"Ms. Kingsbury was extremely dedicated to the work she was doing at the FBI... experienced adversities in the workplace... stress from trying to keep up with her work... she's at fault for taking her work home with her," Ermine says.

Her lawyer portrays it this way: The feds simply indicted her, then asked for a believable story as to why she took them home. She doesn't have one, just "the truth."

He asks for the judge to simply sentence her to probation.

Kingsbury is speaking now, through tears:

"I went into this profession to help others and make a difference in the world. I was not prepared for how unhealthy it made me."

She cites "reprehensible culture" at the FBI and "failed leadership."

She says her work at the FBI took a toll on her health and her marriage. Notes she tried to seek whistleblower protection (for an undisclosed issue.)

"The people deserve more from the desks inside the walls at the government... people failing people."

She says she's been harmed by witnessing crimes against children, counterintelligence, & seen things no one should ever see.

".. they've branded me a traitor and vilified my character. I self disclosed to them what I discovered in my basement... I am guilty of being too honest."

The judge is speaking now.

"Ma'am what you're guilty of is what you pled guilty to, and that's 2 different counts of willful retention of national defense information."

Judge says he reviewed the classified documents to see if the government got a little too giddy with the SECRET stamp.

"No... it was all information that is designed to protect our country from terrorism."

"I cannot fathom why you would jeopardize our nation by leaving these documents in your bathtub," judge says.

Something tells me we're going to quote this guy a year from now in the Southern District of Florida.

"You were a really good person at your job," judge says, noting what appears to be her role at a Harley-Davidson shop.

"You shoulda just quit the FBI if you were under that level of stress. You shoulda quit & walked away & never taken any of these secret documents."

"You're never going to be within 100 yards of a SECRET document again," judge says.

Judge Bough just sentenced her to 46 months in prison, just shy of 4 years behind bars.

That's far less than the max term of 10 years, but it's close to what the feds requested here.

And there you have it. The likely first sentencing under 793(e) since Trump was indicted.