Foreign Policy

State Department employee charged with concealing Chinese-agent contacts

WASHINGTON—A longtime State Department employee was accused of lying about her 10-year relationship with two Chinese spies who allegedly gave her and her family tens of thousands of dollars in gifts in exchange for information, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday.

The employee, Candace Claiborne, was arrested Tuesday after acknowledging in an interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier that day that she had provided the Chinese agents with information about a dissident who was being secretly housed at an embassy in an unidentified location, and with internal U.S. government perspectives on U.S.-China relations, according to court documents.

Ms. Claiborne, 60 years old, told the FBI she knew her associates were seeking the information on behalf of the Chinese government, but that she had only provided unclassified information to them, the documents say. She pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to the FBI and obstructing an official proceeding at a hearing Wednesday.

You've reached your daily free article limit.

Subscribe and support our veteran writing staff to continue reading.

Get Full Ad-Free Access For Just $0.50/Week

Enjoy unlimited digital access to our Military Culture, Defense, and Foreign Policy coverage content and support a veteran owned business. Already a subscriber?

WASHINGTON—A longtime State Department employee was accused of lying about her 10-year relationship with two Chinese spies who allegedly gave her and her family tens of thousands of dollars in gifts in exchange for information, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday.

The employee, Candace Claiborne, was arrested Tuesday after acknowledging in an interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier that day that she had provided the Chinese agents with information about a dissident who was being secretly housed at an embassy in an unidentified location, and with internal U.S. government perspectives on U.S.-China relations, according to court documents.

Ms. Claiborne, 60 years old, told the FBI she knew her associates were seeking the information on behalf of the Chinese government, but that she had only provided unclassified information to them, the documents say. She pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to the FBI and obstructing an official proceeding at a hearing Wednesday.

According to prosecutors, Ms. Claiborne has held a top secret security clearance since joining the State Department in 1999 and has held posts in a variety of countries, including China, Iraq and Sudan.
Read the whole story from The Wall Street Journal.
Featured image courtesy of Reuters.
About SOFREP News Team View All Posts

The SOFREP News Team is a collective of professional military journalists. Brandon Tyler Webb is the SOFREP News Team's Editor-in-Chief. Guy D. McCardle is the SOFREP News Team's Managing Editor. Brandon and Guy both manage the SOFREP News Team.

COMMENTS

You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article.

More from SOFREP

REAL EXPERTS.
REAL NEWS.

Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis.

TRY 14 DAYS FREE

Already a subscriber? Log In