FBI Employee Indicted for Illegally Removing Classified National Security Documents

According to a Department of Justice press release from May 21, 2021, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employee was indicted for illegally removing numerous national security documents that were found in her home.

Kendra Kingsbury, 48, of Dodge City, Kansas, who worked for the Kansas City division of the FBI as an intelligence analyst, is alleged to have improperly removed sensitive government materials such as national defense information and classified documents from June 2004 to Dec. 15, 2017 and stored them in her home. She worked at the FBI for over 12 years and had a top level security clearance.

Count one of the federal indictment relates to classified documents that were found in Kingsbury’s personal residence relating to U.S. counterterrorism efforts, the FBI’s priorities related to counterterrorism, and information on multiple ongoing FBI investigations across the country.

Count two of the indictment relates to classified documents in Kingsbury’s possession regarding U.S. government efforts to collect intelligence on terrorist groups around the world. This includes information on a suspected associate of Usama Bin Laden residing in Africa.

Special Agent in Charge Timothy Langan of the FBI Kansas City Field Office said of the crime, “Every FBI employee swears to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. With that oath comes the obligation to protect classified information from unauthorized disclosure to safeguard our national security. Kingsbury’s actions are a betrayal of trust not only to the FBI but also the American people. They can be reassured that the FBI takes any and all allegations of wrongdoing by employees with the utmost gravity and remain committed to investigating these allegations to the fullest extent.”