Feds say Nebraska man shared classified info with match on dating site

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A Nebraska man is accused of sharing classified information with someone he met on a foreign dating website.

David Slater, 63, was arrested Saturday after being indicted on charges of conspiring to transmit and transmitting classified information relating to national defense.

Slater, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, was a civilian employee at the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue at the time of the alleged offenses.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, he attended classified StratCom briefings on the war.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said someone “who claimed to be a female living in Ukraine” used a dating website to ask Slater for sensitive information on the war.

Authorities said he complied, telling her about military targets and Russian military capabilities.

The recipient called Slater her “secret informant love” and “secret agent,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Authorities did not say whether the person on the dating site was who they purported to be.

“As alleged, Mr. Slater, an Air Force civilian employee and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, knowingly transmitted classified national defense information to another person in blatant disregard for the security of his country and his oath to safeguard its secrets,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen. “The Department of Justice will seek to hold accountable those who knowingly and willfully put their country at risk by disclosing classified information.”

Slater will make his initial appearance in federal court on Tuesday.

If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.