WASHINGTON — A veteran Senate Intelligence Committee staffer was arrested Thursday on charges of lying to FBI agents during an investigation into the leak of classified information in which federal authorities also seized emails and phone records belonging to a New York Times reporter.
James A. Wolfe, 58, who served as the committee’s director of security for nearly three decades, is alleged to have made false statements to agents in December about his contacts with three reporters, according to federal court documents made public late Thursday.
One of the reporters was identified as New York Times correspondent Ali Watkins, the newspaper said Thursday night, adding that the Senate staffer and Watkins had a personal relationship.
“Mr. Wolfe’s alleged conduct is a betrayal of the extraordinary public trust that had been placed in him,” said Jessie Liu, the chief federal prosecutor in D.C. “It is hoped that these charges will be a warning to those who might lie to law enforcement to the detriment of the United States.”
Wolfe is expected to make his first court appearance Friday.
A federal prosecutor notified Watkins on Feb. 13 that the DOJ had obtained information on her Google email accounts and Verizon phone, the Times reported. The seized records spanned years before and after Watkins joined the Times in 2017 to cover federal law enforcement.
Before she started at the Times, FBI agents sought information from her about a romantic relationship she had with Wolfe, but Watkins said she didn’t answer those questions, which were part of an investigation into unauthorized leaks.
The Times reported that Watkins said Wolfe had not been a professional source of information for her. She said before joining the Times she told editors at two previous employers — BuzzFeed News and Politico — about her relationship with Wolfe and continued to cover national security and the Intelligence Committee for them.
According to Justice Department rules for getting information from, or records of, members of the news media, “the approach in every instance must be to strike the proper balance among several vital interests: Protecting national security, ensuring public safety, promoting effective…
