An FBI agent who claimed former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani might have been "compromised" by Russian intelligence agents while working in the first Trump administration was arrested Monday on charges related to the alleged unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.
Johnathan Buma, a 15-year veteran of the bureau, allegedly shared text messages, internal documents, and other sensitive information with associates, including as part of a prospective book he began writing about his career as an FBI agent, ABC News reported Wednesday.
Federal agents arrested Buma on Monday at a departure gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York as he was about to board an international flight, ABC News reported, citing court documents. He appeared in Brooklyn federal court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday, did not enter a plea, and was released from detention. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
The charges were filed in the Central District of California, where Buma has a home.
The investigation into Buma reportedly was started by the Biden administration's Department of Justice, which in November 2023 raided Buma's Los Angeles-area home. A search warrant reviewed by Mother Jones stated the agents were looking for evidence that Buma violated laws against unauthorized removal of classified documents and unauthorized removal of national defense documents.
Scott Horton, an attorney representing Buma at the time, told Mother Jones the search turned up no classified material and that the agents seized only Buma's whistleblower complaint, which is not classified. He said the raid was "designed to be in retaliation for the whistleblower complaints" and that it was "very heavy harassment."
Buma filed statements with congressional investigators outlining his findings related to Giuliani and detailing his allegations that senior FBI officials shut down his investigative efforts and retaliated against him, according to Mother Jones. Horton said Buma had been "shunned and attacked" by fellow agents and that someone put plastic rats 3- to 4-feet-long next to Buma's FBI cubicle.
Court documents reviewed by ABC News stated that beginning in October 2023, Buma "printed approximately 130 files from the FBI's internal network ... some of which were clearly marked with warnings that made clear that the information was to be protected."
"Buma also printed nine text-file documents which contained text that had been copied and pasted from reports that were marked in such a way that made clear that the information must be protected," the documents stated.
In the ensuing weeks, Buma allegedly shared a draft of a book he had written about his career at the FBI with "associates" over email. The draft allegedly included details about "the FBI's investigations into a foreign country's weapons of mass destruction program."
Newsmax reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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