CIA officer caught with gold bars admits exposing intelligence source to foreign official

A senior CIA officer arrested after federal agents found about 600 pounds of gold bars in his home admitted during a plea hearing that he had exposed a secret source to a foreign official.

The DOJ officials said Rush secretly diverted government funds worth $194 million, using his position at the CIA to create an elaborate scheme designed to facilitate his “maximum self-enrichment at the expense of the United States.”

In a plea document, Rush conceded that in late 2025 he disclosed “certain descriptive information of a U.S. government clandestine human source” that could “endanger the safety and life of the human source and the U.S. government officers working with the source,” as well as jeopardize America’s “ability to recruit human sources, who rely on the U.S. government’s assurance of absolute secrecy.”

Rush has been in custody since his arrest on May 19, 2026, after investigators found that he lied about his education and military service record for years.

According to the prosecutors, the officer was deputed at CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology and had access to the most secret programs, and he used that to his benefit.

During the search of his home, investigators seized about 298 gold bars, along with $2 million in U.S. currency and 35 luxury watches. 

Rush had been charged with one count of theft of public funds, accused of falsifying his pay records.

David Rush, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud under a plea deal approved by U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff on Tuesday, October 6.

His sentencing is scheduled for January 28, 2027, where he could receive 20 years of imprisonment.