Civilian defence contractor admits leaking military secrets to his partner

Benjamin Bishop was expected to plead guilty in federal court on Thursday to one count of transmitting national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it and one count of unlawfully retaining national defense documents and plans.

Bishop, 60, was arrested last March at the headquarters for the US Pacific Command, where he worked. A document for the plea agreement filed on Tuesday said Bishop emailed his girlfriend classified information on joint training and planning sessions between the US and South Korea.

It said Bishop had classified documents at his Hawaii home, including one titled ‘US Department of Defense China Strategy,’ another on US force posture in Asia and the Pacific and a US Pacific Command joint intelligence operations center special report.

An FBI affidavit last year alleged the then-59-year-old gave his 27-year-old girlfriend classified information about war plans, nuclear weapons, missile defenses and other topics. Bervar has said the two were in love and that the case was about love, not espionage.