A DOD contractor with top secret clearance has been illegally taking his work home with him. “Turkey-born electrical engineer” Gokhan Gun was on his way to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Thursday morning. He didn’t get there. Federal agents with a search warrant found at least one document marked “top secret” in his backpack.
DOD on defense
Apparently, the DOD had Gokhan Gun on their radar for a while before they picked him up. He wasn’t formally arrested until the day after that, Friday, August 9. The Defense Department contractor was born in Turkey.
Accused of “mishandling classified documents,” the FBI knows he’s a “frequent traveler, having taken numerous trips to Turkey and to various European and Middle Eastern countries.”
He’s in a whole lot of trouble. The DOD is aware he took several top-secret documents home with him. It’s not clear how many went on vacation, too. Reality Winner got five years and three months in federal prison for stuffing a single document down her pantyhose.
Defense Dept. Contractor Arrested With Dozens of Classified Documents
Investigators are still trying to determine why the contractor, Gokhan Gun, who became an American citizen in 2021, hoarded so many documents. pic.twitter.com/ZASlDyUipw
— Business News (@trunsa321) August 11, 2024
At the time, it was the longest prison sentence ever imposed for an unauthorized release of government information. She leaked an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 election to the media.
The DOD is aware that between May and August 7, the contractor “printed over 250 documents at work.” He was allowed to do that because he has the clearance. What he’s not allowed to do is take the printouts home. He’s well aware that’s a no-no and went to great lengths to smuggle them out.
The FBI has evidence clipped from surveillance videos. They kept an eye on him long enough to let him hang himself. It seems that they swooped in with the net before he could jet off to make contact with one of America’s enemies. This time.
On way to Mexico
According to the 11-page complaint filed by the Federal Bureau of instigation, in a Virginia federal court, “Gun was scheduled to depart the U.S. for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Thursday morning.” The bureau ruined his plans by executing a search warrant as he left home to catch his flight.
“In their initial search of his backpack, agents found a document marked ‘top secret.‘” There was more DOD paperwork inside the home. “Agents found stacks of papers in what appeared to be his dining room, where they discovered a few more documents labeled top secret.”
The complaint also notes that video of the DOD contractor shows him “leaving the office with what appeared to be ‘rolled papers within a partially translucent shopping bag.‘” If it was all the way opaque it would have been automatically searched.
Defense contractor arrested after printing 150 pages of ‘top secret’ documents and is cuffed on the way to Mexico #Defensecontractor #Mexico #DOD #FBIhttps://t.co/6D9k2aRByG
— Katrina (@Katrina37602355) August 10, 2024
He was monitored another time leaving with a “translucent red shopping bag.” They also followed him to his Fairfax, Virginia, residence. “He was then seen operating two cell phones before heading to his second residence in Falls Church, Virginia.”
It wasn’t a work phone and a personal one. The DOD confirmed to the bureau that “Gun had not been issued a work cell phone.” He also owns homes in Texas and Florida. Authorities haven’t figured out why he was headed to Mexico.
He may have had plans to lay on the beach and watch the girls while catching up on some work projects. Then again, he could have been having clandestine meetings with shady characters who pay him enough to own four houses. The DOD isn’t exactly forthcoming with the details of what they know, so far.
