Former Army worker arrested after allegedly leaking classified information to journalist

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A North Carolina woman is in federal custody after prosecutors alleged, she shared classified military information with an investigative journalist who later published a book containing the material.

According to a federal criminal complaint, Courtney Williams, who worked at Fort Bragg, a large U.S. Army base in the state, is accused of transmitting national defense information to journalist Seth Harp for his 2025 book “The Fort Bragg Cartel.” Harp has publicly discussed the book on national media platforms.

Former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Michael Easley Jr. said the allegations involve highly sensitive military material.

“Our Delta Force is one of the most sophisticated military units in the world, and it’s one of our army’s most elite units,” Easley said. “They handle some of our nation’s most sensitive matters.”

Prosecutors allege that between 2022 and 2025, Williams exchanged roughly 180 text messages and over 10 hours of phone conversations with the journalist. The complaint claims she shared information about alleged misconduct and abuse inside a specialized unit at Fort Bragg.

“The government alleges that her discussions with this journalist went beyond what she was legally allowed to share,” Easley said.

He noted that cases like this often involve a difficult balance.

“There’s always this tension between someone needing to speak up about some wrongdoing when something’s happening under our law enforcement, under our military, in any form of government,” Easley said. “But there are avenues to do that the right way.”

Now a defense attorney, Easley said Williams could still pursue a viable legal strategy.

“The defense will no doubt try to cast Ms. Williams as a whistleblower who is trying to call attention and raise awareness and shine a light for the public on what she deemed to be misconduct within our armed forces,” he said. “The prosecution, on the other hand, will likely highlight that there are right and wrong ways to call attention to matters and sharing confidential information in violation of the law that somebody knows they’re supposed to maintain is confidential is a problem.”

Prosecutors also point to a text message they say Williams sent that reads, “I might actually get arrested for disclosing classified information.” Easley said that message could become a key piece of evidence.

“The government will surely cite to her own text messages and try to use that to show knowledge, knowledge that the information she shared was, in fact, classified knowledge that there was a consequence to have shared that information,” he said.

The complaint also states Williams signed a Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement when she was hired.