The Department of Justice alleges that Taylor Adam Lee attempted to illegally share information about the M1 Abrams tank.
The Justice Department announced on Wednesday that it has charged an active-duty soldier for allegedly attempting to transmit national defense information to a foreign adversary, among other counts.
Taylor Adam Lee, 22, is accused in a criminal complaint of seeking to “transmit sensitive national defense information to Russia” relating to how to operate the United States’ primary battle tank, the M1 Abrams, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in a statement.
Court documents said Lee is an active-duty U.S. Army soldier with a top-secret security clearance who was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. According to prosecutors, between May 2025 and until he was charged, Lee attempted to send U.S. military defense information to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Sometime in June, Lee allegedly sent technical information about the M1 Abrams tank and said he wanted to provide assistance to Russia, writing online that the United States “is not happy with me for trying to expose their weaknesses” and that he would “even volunteer to assist the Russian federation when I’m there in any way.”
Officials said Lee was attempting to swap the sensitive information for Russian citizenship.
A version of the M1 Abrams tank has been provided by the U.S. military to Ukrainian forces, who have been battling Russian troops in Ukraine for the past three years.
During a meeting in July, the suspect allegedly gave an SD card with documents and other information about the M1 Abrams and U.S. military combat operations to an individual he believed was working on behalf of the Russian government.
The documents contained technical data Lee was not authorized to provide, and some were marked “Controlled Unclassified Information,” according to prosecutors.
“This arrest is an alarming reminder of the serious threat facing our U.S. Army,” Brig. Gen. Sean F. Stinchon, the commanding general of Army Counterintelligence Command, said in a statement released by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
He added that “soldiers who violate their oath and become insider threats will absolutely be caught and brought to justice, and we will continue to protect Army personnel and safeguard equipment.”
