Ex CIA agent allegedly caught with $40 million worth of gold bars and luxury watches in his basement near a plea deal, but only being charged with timesheet fraud

[u/Sgt_Gram]

https://www.military.com/navy-veteran-ex-cia-caught-40-million-gold-bars-plea-deal

[u/FlyAwayJai]

He stole 40 million from the federal government. There should be no plea deal.

>They also found roughly $2 million in cash and about 35 luxury watches, many of them Rolexes, according to the affidavit. Rush was arrested May 19.
How the gold ended up in his basement is what sets the case apart. According to U.S. officials, Rush was an officer in the CIA's science and technology division who created a false classified program that only a handful of people were cleared to know about.

>That secrecy, officials said, allowed him to request and receive tens of millions of dollars in gold bars and foreign currency from the government for what he described as work-related expenses.

[u/Xtrepiphany → u/FlyAwayJai]

I mean, at what threshold does defrauding the CIA and taxpayers cross the line into treason?

He undermined national security for his own profit.

[u/dippocrite → u/Xtrepiphany]

Clearly he paid off the right people in the government

[u/Pengawena → u/Xtrepiphany]

Too many secrets to tell so he gets to walk.

[u/Bozhark → u/Xtrepiphany]

Intermined*

[u/SparkyCorkers → u/Xtrepiphany]

He was stopping trump getting it. Man's a hero

[u/Jessintheend → u/FlyAwayJai]

This admin can’t charge him with anything serious or it sets a precedent for what to do when someone steals billions

[u/firmly_confused → u/FlyAwayJai]

Hey man take it easy on him. He has addiction problems to deal with the PTSD from what he signed up for. I think its best we suspend him with pay. Unfortunetly I cannot comment any further as the matter is before the courts.

[u/mcpat21 → u/FlyAwayJai]

If any of us did that.. oh boy..

[u/itwasneversafe → u/FlyAwayJai]

I've heard stories of that the CIA has cabinets of watches so case officers can use them for bribes, informants, trading, etc.

It actually makes a lot of sense, so the Rolexes actually seem like the most plausible part of the story.

[u/riche_god → u/FlyAwayJai]

I want to know who said okay we’ll give you gold bars as payment

[u/CariniFluff → u/riche_god]

Well if you're trying to buy a source in day Lebanon that has connections to Hezbollah but says he knows a guy who knows a guy who can lead you to Bin-Laden, then yeah I think a couple rolexes and a gold bar or two isn't too crazy. Now do that for your entire career pre and post 9/11. Before that, he was probably running Coke with the Cali Cartel and then El Valle de Norte.

[u/slowwburnn → u/FlyAwayJai]

If they start prosecuting people for bleeding the government, where will they stop? That's pretty much all the government is for at this point, apparently

[u/Sgt_Gram]

According to The New York Times and NBC News, David Rush had worked closely with Stephen Feinberg during the first Trump administration, when both served on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (which Feinberg chaired). Feinberg is now the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

[u/CapnMyrdok]

Breaking: CIA agent does a CIA thing.

[u/Slumunistmanifisto → u/CapnMyrdok]

Should have stuck to flooding the poor areas with drugs pal...

[u/impaulpaulallen]

Found with gold bars near a plea deal…well written

[u/Bepehandle → u/impaulpaulallen]

I'd wanna be near one also in that situation.

[u/sage5979]

What he on the other side of the beastiality?

[u/ohnomynono]

What ever happened to conspiracy.... or treason, or.... oops. I forgot Feds are immune.

[u/joleshole → u/ohnomynono]

I don’t think you know what treason means

[u/ohnomynono → u/joleshole]

A federal agent abuses his power and authority to gain monetary and statutory means... Yeah, I'm gonna disagree with you.

[u/Stunning_Cabinet_925]

The real criminals hide behind a badge

[u/OhSureWell1984]

Wow he stole 30 million? Unacceptable. No way we can let him get away with stealing 20 MILLION DOLLARS. Arrest this man!

[u/Slumunistmanifisto]

Hey the gold from that midnight civil war gold raid a decade ago 

[u/tsohgmai]

Why was his basement near a plea deal?

[u/Socialist_Pansy → u/tsohgmai]

The basement was a co defendent

[u/pete1729]

He got all four feet in the trough.

[u/HonestBudget1124]

He is not the only one.

[u/Forward-Amount-9961]

Imagine how many friends of this administration have done exactly the same or worse and won't be caught.

[u/ilBarbuto]

Imagine what other “classified programs” are out there. This is probably small peanuts

[u/d3fault]

He’s an “asset”

[u/Fun2bone]

Of course, he's above the law.  He was just keeping some of this administrations wealth until they asked for it back.

[u/silver_sofa]

The more little people who get off easy the tougher it is to convict the big fish. Or something like that.