The FBI arrested a Turkish-U.S. dual citizen by the name of Gokhan Gun on Friday, after he allegedly attempted to flee the country with copied secret and classified documents, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Between May 10 and Aug. 7, Gun allegedly printed over a dozen documents marked classified at the time of printing,” the Eastern District of Virginia U.S. Attorney’s office wrote in their affidavit.
Gun, 50, of Falls Church, Virginia, worked as an electrical engineer and wireless communications specialist for the Joint Warfare Analysis Center since September of last year. His work, as described by the center, was to create “innovative precision network conventional targeting options,” according to the Washington Post.
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The U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment on this matter when pressed for comment by the Daily Beast.
“Through his employment, Gun possesses a Top Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) and has received training on the proper handling and storage of classified information,” the agency added.
Prosecutors alleged that “on multiple occasions beginning at least in May 2024, Gun allegedly printed documents, some of which were marked Top Secret, and without permission removed them from his authorized work location.”
Agents added that security camera footage “observed Gun exiting his workplace with a bag full of hard copy documents before entering two different residences in Fairfax and Falls Church, both owned by Gun.”
Prosecutors allege that Gun had “printed approximately 256 documents, totaling approximately 3,412 pages” containing 155 pages of classified documents between May and August.
“On or about July 24, 2024, between approximately 4:49 PM and 4:56 PM, Gun printed three documents totaling approximately 52 pages,” prosecutors wrote in the affidavit. “A security camera outside the workplace recorded Gun exiting the facility carrying what appeared to be a drink thermos, rolled papers within a partially translucent shopping bag.”
Then, the next day, he allegedly printed 23 more documents, again, taking them home. Days later on July 30 he allegedly took home 25 more documents.
Gun was allegedly observed four more times leaving the office with classified documents he had printed “outside of typical working hours for most employees,” “according to the facility’s security personnel.”
The affidavit curiously states, “according to Gun’s immediate supervisor, Gun is not prohibited or restricted from printing unclassified documents to take home.”
Gun was arrested outside his home on the way to the airport on a felony charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified information on Friday, before, prosecutors allege, “Gun was scheduled to depart the United States on a morning flight to Mexico.”
Agents executed search warrants on his “Fairfax (Virginia) and Falls Church residences, along with his vehicle, and media storage devices,” on Friday, discovering “a Top Secret document” and “stacks of papers among which were multiple documents with visible classification markings, including pages bearing Top Secret and SCI classification markings.”
Court records claim that agents had allegedly found classified documents in “a backpack he had prepared for his foreign trip.”
Gun told detectives “that he was going to Mexico for a fishing trip with two friends,” and he “denied ever taking anything classified from his workspace.”
“Gun confirmed that he had no reason to take classified materials to his residences,” the filing added. “Gun suggested that, if there were documents with classification markings, the classifications might be expired.”
On Tuesday, magistrate Judge Ivan D. Davis, who is presiding over Gun’s pretrial proceedings, ordered that Gun should be released from jail and placed in home confinement, according to the Washington Post.
Davis compared Gun to a football player who broke their NDA, according to the Washington Post.
“Depending on the results of the searches of his electronic devices, and the materials seized from his multiple homes, the FBI could learn a great deal more about Gun’s intent, including whether he has been working with others seeking to obtain classified U.S. government information,” the prosecuting attorneys added in a court filing.
“You’re arguing that because he had classified information, he obviously wasn’t going fishing,” Davis told the prosecutors in a Tuesday hearing.
The Daily Beast reached out to the Turkish consulate and Gun’s attorneys, but none have returned the request at the time of publishing.
