El Paso soldier arrested for trying to expose U.S. Army ‘weaknesses’ to Russia, DOJ says

EL PASO, Texas – A soldier stationed at Fort Bliss was arrested Wednesday for allegedly attempting to send military information to the Russian government, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.

Taylor Adam Lee, 22, is accused of transmitting technical information on a U.S. tank to the Russian Federation, the attorney’s office said. The information was export-controlled, meaning it cannot be shared with foreign nations.

Lee held a top-secret and sensitive compartmented information security clearance, and according to prosecutors, spent the last three months establishing his credentials and sending information to Russia’s Ministry of Defense.

The attorney’s office said in the release that Lee allegedly passed an SD card with documents and information about the MIA2 Abrams tank in July to an individual he believed to be a representative of the Russian government.

After the meeting, Lee allegedly worked on obtaining a piece of hardware inside the tank, prosecutors said, and delivered what appeared to be the hardware to a storage unit in El Paso.

Lee made his initial appearance in court Wednesday.

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