Covering The U.S. Army Reserve's 118th Birthday Celebration In Philadelphia

I covered the U.S. Army Reserve’s 118^th birthday celebration in Philadelphia yesterday for Reserve + National Guard Magazine.

The Army Reserve’s birthday celebration was held on the Independence Mall in front of Independence Hall.

Lt. General Robert Harter, chief of Army Reserve and commanding general, U.S. Army Reserve Command, was the main speaker and he then swore in 118 future soldiers from New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

After the ceremony, the crowd walked to Betsy Ross’s House where a re-enlistment ceremony was held. Lt. Gen Harter then cut the Army Reserve’s birthday cake.

I’ll post my piece on the Army Reserve’s 118^th birthday celebration here when the magazine comes out.

The Russians Are Coming: My Philly Daily Crime Beat Column On The Russian GRU Unit That Is Hijacking Routers To Steal Sensitive Information

Philly Daily ran my Crime Beat column on Russian GRU hackers.

You can read the column via the link below or the following text:

 Davis: The Russians are coming to a computer near you - Philly Daily

Earlier this month, the National Security Agency (NSA) and other federal agencies co-sealed an FBI public service announcement, “Russian GRU Exploiting Vulnerable Routers to Steal Sensitive Information.”

The  public service announcement accompanied an announcement from U. S. Attorney David Metcalf in Philadelphia, the Department of Justice, and the FBI that a court-authorized technical operation to neutralize the U.S. portion of a network of small office/home office (SOHO) routers compromised by a unit within Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff (GRU: Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoe Upravlenis) Military Unit 26165, also known as APT28, Sofacy Group, Forest Blizzard, Pawn Storm, Fancy Bear, and Sednit.

Having spent more than 37 years doing security work as a young sailor in the U.S. Navy and later as a Defense Department civilian, I’m well-aware of the Russian GRU, which is essentially the same gang as the old Soviet GRU. (Above is the GRU emblem). 

The GRU is the Russian military intelligence agency that operates worldwide alongside the Russian foreign intelligence agency the SVR, which is essentially the old First Main Directorate of the old KGB.

During my time in the Defense Department, I was trained to guard against the KGB (later the SVR) and the GRU. I often traveled to Washington D.C. to receive briefings from the FBI, CIA, DIA and NSA on the threat from the SVR/KGB and the GRU.

The GRU, the military group that includes the Spetsnaz special operations forces and the “active measures” unit that murdered a Russians defector with radiation poisoned tea, also employs full-time hackers.       

According to Metcalf, the hacker unit used the routers to facilitate malicious Domain Name System (DNS) hijacking operations against worldwide targets of intelligence interest to the Russian government, including individuals in the military, government, and critical infrastructure sectors.

“Since at least 2024, GRU actors have exploited known vulnerabilities to steal credentials for thousands of TP-Link routers worldwide. The actors then accessed many of these compromised routers without authorization and manipulated their settings to redirect DNS requests to GRU-controlled servers - i.e., malicious DNS resolvers. GRU actors were indiscriminate in their initial targeting and manipulation of routers. The actors then implemented an automated filtering process to determine which DNS requests were of interest and warranted interception. For select targets, the GRU’s DNS resolvers provided fraudulent DNS records for specific domains that mimicked legitimate services — including Microsoft Outlook Web Access — to facilitate Actor-in-the-Middle attacks against encrypted victim network traffic. In doing so, the GRU actors harvested unencrypted passwords, authentication tokens, emails, and other sensitive information from devices on the same network as the compromised TP-Link routers,” the announcement stated.

“Russian military intelligence once again hijacked Americans’ hardware to commandeer critical data,” said Metcalf. “In the face of continued aggression by our nation-state adversaries, the U.S. government will respond just as aggressively. Working with the FBI — and our partners around the world — we are committed to disrupting and exposing such threats to our nation’s cybersecurity.”

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg added. “The GRU’s predatory use of networks in American homes and businesses for its malicious cyber operations remains a serious and persistent threat,” said “NSD will continue to use every tool at our disposal to detect such intrusions and expel hostile foreign actors from our Nation’s networks.”

“Operation Masquerade — led by FBI Boston — is the latest example of how we’re defending our homeland from Russia’s GRU, which weaponized routers owned by unsuspecting Americans in more than 23 states to steal sensitive government, military, and critical infrastructure information,” said Special Agent in Charge Ted E. Docks, of the FBI’s Boston Field Office. “The FBI utilized cutting edge technology and leveraged our private sector and international partners to unmask this malicious activity and remediate routers. Now we’re asking everyone who has a router to secure it, update its firmware, and replace it if needed. By working together, we can guard against nefarious nation state actors trying to compromise our national security.”

“Operation Masquerade demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to identifying, exposing, and disrupting the Russian government's efforts to compromise American devices, steal sensitive information, and target critical infrastructure,” said Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of FBI’s Cyber Division. “GRU actors compromised routers in the US and around the world, hijacking them to conduct espionage. Given the scale of this threat, sounding the alarm wasn't enough. The FBI conducted a court-authorized operation to harden compromised routers across the United States. We urge all router owners to take the remediation steps outlined today, because defending our networks requires all of us. The FBI will continue to use its authorities to identify and impose costs on state-sponsored actors who target the American people.”

According to court documents unsealed in Philadelphia, the FBI developed a series of commands to send to compromised routers in the United States, designed to collect evidence regarding the GRU actors’ activity, reset DNS settings (i.e., remove GRU DNS resolvers and force routers to obtain legitimate DNS resolvers from their Internet Service Providers (ISPs)), and to otherwise prevent the GRU actors from exploiting the original means of unauthorized access.

As described in court documents, the government extensively tested the operation on firmware and hardware for affected TP-Link routers. Other than stymieing the GRU’s ability to access the routers, the operation did not impact the routers’ normal functionality or collect the legitimate users’ content information.

The court-authorized steps to remediate compromised routers can be reversed by legitimate users at any time through factory resets with hardware reset buttons. Legitimate users can also reverse changes by logging into web management pages and restoring desired settings (e.g., factory default settings).

The FBI is working with ISPs to provide notice of the operation to users of SOHO routers covered by the court’s authorization. If you believe you have a compromised router, please contact your local FBI field office or file a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here each week. He is also a contributor to Broad + Liberty and Counterterrorism magazine. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com. 

Note: You can read my previous Crime Beat columns via the link below:

Paul Davis On Crime: My Philly Daily Crime Beat Columns

  

Reading 'Tradecraft, Tactics And Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence And Putin's Secret War'

I’ve begun reading Sean M. Wiswesser’s most interesting book, Tradecraft, Tactics and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin’s Secret War, which is published by the Naval Institute Press.

The book is a primer on Russian intelligence operations and should be read by every American concerned with America’s adversary and the dictator Vladimir Putin.   

Wiswesser (seen in the above photo), a former CIA senior operations officer and fluent Russian speaker, served on multiple overseas tours and many other deployments on temporary duty, including war-zone service. He has also served as a CIA chief of station and had multiple joint-duty assignments with other intelligence agencies. 

Sean M. Wiswesser knows Russia, and he knows Russian intelligence. 

My interest in Russian intelligence operations began when I was a teenager in the 1960s and read Ian Fleming’s James Bond thrillers after seeing the movies Dr. No and From Russia with Love. I was pleased to discover that the Fleming novels were darker and more complex than the films. The Bond novels lead me to read espionage nonfiction and history books about the Cold War.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy when I was 17 in 1970 and served on the USS Kitty Hawk as the aircraft carrier operated on “Yankee Station” in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam. I worked in the Radio Communications Division performing administrative security tasks, and I was able to read classified traffic messages about the war. I was most interested in reading traffic about how Soviet intelligence was aiding the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong. 

When the carrier was not launching and recovering aircraft, I would go up on the flight deck, and looking through binoculars, I saw the ubiquitous Soviet trawler off our stern. The trawler, using a transparent cover as a commercial fishing vessel, was an intelligence gathering ship that shadowed the aircraft carriers.

After my Navy service, I did security work as a Defense Department civilian. I was trained to guard our secrets from the Soviet’s GRU and the KGB, and I received regular briefings from the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, the DIA and other agencies from the intelligence community on the Soviet threat. I also read such valuable books as John Barron’s KGB: The Secret Work of Soviet Secret Agents, Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin’s The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB, and other illuminating book on Russian intelligence. 

Later, as a writer, I interviewed many FBI special agents, CIA officers, and other Soviet/Russian experts, including the CIA’s former director of the National Clandestine Service, Michael J. Sulick (seen in the above photo), who wrote the introduction to Mr. Wiswesser’s book. I also met briefly Russian defector and former KGB General Oleg Kalugin at the Spy Museum in Washington D.C.

Yet, even with my lifelong interest and fair knowledge of Russian intelligence operations, there is much I’m learning from Mr. Wiswesser’s book.

Once I've finished reading his book, I plan to interview Sean M. Wiswesser for Counterterrorism magazine. I'll post the interview here once it comes out.   

You can read more about Trdecraft, Tactics and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin’s Secret War by visiting the Naval Institute Press via the link below:

 Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks | U.S. Naval Institute

You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine with former CIA official Michael J. Sulick via the link below: 

 Paul Davis On Crime: My Q&A With Michael Sulick, Former Director Of The CIA's National Clandestine Service & Author Of 'Spying In America'

Ian Fleming On Creating The James Bond Thrillers

 

My Philly Daily Crime Beat Column: My Q&A With Kathryn Canavan, The Author Of 'Killer In The House: 10 Days Of Terror In A Pennsylvania Suburb

Philly Daily ran my Crime Beat column with a Q&A with Kathryn Canavan (seen in the below photos), the author of Killer in the House: 10 days of Terror in a Pennsylvania Suburb.

You can read the column via the link below or the following text:

Davis: My Q&A with Kathryn Canavan, the author of ‘Killer In The House: 10 Days of Terror in a Pennsylvania Suburb’ - Philly Daily

I first interviewed journalist and author Kathryn Canavan in 2021 when my Crime Beat column appeared in Philadelphia Weekly.

I interviewed her about her outstanding book, True Crime Philadelphia: From America’s First Bank Robbery To The Real-Life Killers Who Inspired Boardwalk Empire.  The true crime book should be of interest to all crime aficionados, especially those living in the Philadelphia area.

Kathryn Canavan now has another true crime book that I read and found most interesting. I reached out to her and asked her why she wrote Killer In The House: 10 Days Of Terror in a Pennsylvania Suburb.

“Three reporters from my first newspaper job showed up at a book signing I did for my last book at a Barnes & Noble in Bucks County,” she explained. “We all started talking about crimes we covered, and they said I should write about the sextuple Abt spree killing because I was the first reporter on the scene and it was the most sensational case in Bucks County in the '70s. I said, "I don't write about murders; I write history." One of them said, "It is history. It's 47 years ago." They had me. On my way home I drove to the street where it happened. I parked at the intersection in front of the house. As soon as I saw the house again, I knew I was going to write a book. 

“I went home and researched for three days. Then I drove back to Bucks County. On my first day in the neighborhood, I found the patrolman who found the six bodies, a man who helped me on the raucous night of the arrest, and the sole survivor. I thought it was kismet.”

How did your coverage of the murders as a young reporter affect your journalism career? 

“My stories about the Abt murders and the killer's outrageous trial led to a job at a much larger newspaper. I moved to Delaware, but the Abt case was always somewhere in the back of my mind. I always wondered what happened to the people I got to know over the five months between the six murders and the court trial." 

How would you describe the Abt family? 

“Peggy and Jack Abt both worked and they both commuted to Philadelphia daily, but they found time to do things with their five kids and volunteer in the community. There were allegations that at least one of their sons was using hard drugs." 

How would you describe the community where the murders took place? 

“Trevose was a woodsy working-class suburb surrounded by caves and hills and the Neshaminy Creek, on the western edge of Bucks County, just two miles from Northeast Philadelphia. It was a neighborhood so safe that middle-schoolers had oversized sleepovers in an empty lot in the summertime."

Why were the Abt family murders so disturbing to the community? 

“Neighbors had good reason to believe the murders had something to do with drugs and Clifford Abt, 23. They didn't.”

I’m not sure if I should ruin the suspense for people who don’t know the case, but how would you describe the mass murderer who slayed the family? 

“The killer broke into the Abt house after the last family member left for the day and waited 11 hours to kill them all one-by-one as they came home for the weekend, expecting nothing more than a Friday night fish fry. After each murder, he dragged the body to the basement and then tidied up the kitchen to fool his next victim. He sat at the family piano and waited. He didn't eat. He didn't sleep. He didn't watch television. 

“He was a milquetoast 24-year-old who failed at everything he tried. One prospective employer passed him over because she thought he wasn't assertive enough. 

After he killed six people he went home and made himself a tuna fish sandwich.”

 What was his motivation? 

“The killer believed two of the Abt boys were bullying him. Ironically, they were the only two members of the family he didn't stick around long enough to kill.”

What eventually happened to the murderer? 

“He died in prison in 2020. Although it was at the height of covid, he died of natural causes. He was convicted in 1976, but he didn't have one visitor at prison until 1979, although he was from a family of six and they lived less than an hour's drive away. The man who visited him in 1979 was his public defender.” 

You also write about the murder of an elderly couple near the Abt family murders. Were the two sets of murders connected? 

“The Abt murders were not connected at all to the Vogenberger murders that happened on the same day and during the same hours and just four miles apart. Ralph and Marguerite Vogenberger, both 77, were hit with Taser guns and then shot to death in their gracious Victorian farmhouse just up Brownsville Road from the Abts. Police speculated their killers were using the Tasers to torture them into revealing where on their property they kept thousands of dollars in cash. The couple never gave up their hiding places.” 

Was that case ever solved? 

“Bensalem Police solved the Abt case in 10 days before the advent of DNA, street cameras, databases, facial recognition, or even cell phones. The Vogenberger murders were never solved. Police tried everything. They even brought in a Delaware psychic who worked for two steak dinners. Her consultation didn't lead to the murderers, but she did tell police exactly where to look for two metal boxes full of cash. A cold case detective working the murders in the 2020s suspected the same two men as the 1976 detective did -- a shirttail cousin of Marguerite Vogenberger and his pal. They escaped from prison together six months earlier. They sent more than 100 items to the FBI for fingerprinting, but not one had a fingerprint from either suspect.

“There was one common thread between the Abt murder scene and the Vogenberger one. Police found a size 9D Sears boot print in the dust in the Vogenbergers' attic. They found the same boot print in the blood in the Abts' basement.”

What takeaways do you want your readers to have from the book? 

“I guess just the fragility of life. Maria Bryant, who was the Abt's papergirl, summed it up years later when she told me, "It was just an ordinary day, but there was a killer behind the wall." People expect things to go bump in the night, but, in 1976, nobody fretted a killer would invade the sanctity of their home in the middle of the afternoon. One woman who was a child in the neighborhood in 1976 is approaching retirement now, but she said she's still frightened when her family is away and she has to walk into her house alone.

“Every word in the book comes directly from police notes, court transcripts, autopsy reports, IQ tests, school records, prison records, news databases, the killer's own eidetic confession or interviews I conducted in 1976 or 2022, 2023 or 2024. Reinterviewing people I interviewed in 1976 was like boarding a time machine. I reconnected with the survivor, the detectives, the defense attorney, the patrolman who found the body, and the neighbors. We didn't know each other well at all in 1976, but we all shared one thing -- we were all on Fleetwood Avenue during the 10-day search for the killer, and the slayings shook us all back when multiple murders still jolted people.”

Killer In The House is a fascinating, well-written and well-researched true crime book.

Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here each week. He is also a contributor to Broad + Liberty and Counterterrorism magazine. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com.  

Note: You can read my Philadelphia Weekly Crime Beat columns on Katheryn Canavan's True Crime Philadelphia via the link below:  

Paul Davis On Crime: True Crime Philadelphia: A Look Back At Philly Bootleggers, Kidnappers, Mobsters And Murderers 

My On Crime Column: Rereading Len Deighton's Reissued Spy Thrillers

I was sorry to read that one of my favorite writers, Len Deighton (seen in the below photo), died last month. But at 97, he certainly lived a good, long life.

Although he had not published a book in many years, his obituary appeared in nearly every newspaper and Internet website.

You can read his obituary and about his life and work via the link below:

Spy thriller author Len Deighton dies at 97 | AP News

Although he wrote close to 40 books, his best-known novel was his first, The Ipcress File, which featured a nameless narrator. The narrator, a spy, was unlike most other fictional spies in that he was a working-class smart aleck.

I liked the Deighton narrator and his sardonic voice. I also liked Deighton's clever plots and his vivid descriptions of characters, places, things and food (Deighton is an accomplished cook).   

I also enjoyed actor Michael Caine in the film series based on Deighton’s novels, The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, and Billion Dollar Brain.

Over the years, I’ve read nearly all of Deighton’s novels, including his WWII military history novels and his clever alternative history novel, SS-GB, which takes place in a post-WWI Briton that the Nazis have defeated and now occupy. 

Prior to his death, Deighton must have been pleased that in 2022 British ITV offered a series adapted from The Ipcress File. The series runs on AMC+ in the USA. I’ve not yet seen the series as I don’t subscribe to AMC+, but I’ll certainly watch it when it moves to Netflix or Amazon.  

And Len Deighton must have been pleased that Grove Atlantic began reissuing his novels. I have copies of the reissued The Ipcress Files, Funeral in Berlin, and SS-GB, three of my favorite Deighton thrillers, and I reread them. I believe they hold up nicely after all these years. 

Grove Atlantic also reissued Deighton’s Yesterday's Spy, Billion Dollar Brain, An Expensive Place to Die and Spy Story. 

As I read about Len Deighton’s death, I happened to be reading Grove Atlantic’s reissued The Horse Under Water, which featured the first-person narrator from The Ipcress File. It is a fine thriller in which the narrator spy is sent to France to deal with a sunken WWII Nazi sub, drugs and a cast of clever characters.

Afterwards, I began reading Grove Atlantic’s reissued Twinkle, Twinkle Little Spy, which is another fine thriller. The narrator spy is sent to the Sharara Desert to meet a defecting Soviet scientist. Like Len Deighton’s other thrillers, this one has interesting characters, clever narration and dialogue, and a fine plot.

If you have not read Len Deighton, I suggest that you do so. If you have not read him in years, I suggest you do so again.  

Note: You can read my other online On Crime columns via the link below: 

Paul Davis On Crime: My Online On Crime Columns 

‘Governing The Nation’ Exhibition Coming Soon To The National Constitution Center

Philly Daily, where my Crime Beat column appears each week, reports that the National Constitution Center announced the upcoming Governing the Nation exhibition, which brings the Constitution’s structure of government to life through immersive sets, historical artifacts, and interactive experiences. 

You can read about it via the link below or the following text:

‘Governing the Nation’ Exhibition Coming Soon to the National Constitution Center - Philly Daily

“Opening to the public on Friday, May 15, Governing the Nation explores how power is divided among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, how each branch is empowered to check the others, and how authority is shared between the national government and the states,” the center explained. “Inside the gallery, visitors encounter these principles in action through both hands-on experiences and artifacts from defining moments in American history. Together, they illustrate how the Constitution has been interpreted, contested, and applied across American history.

The National Constitution Center is located at 525 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106.

You can call 215-409-6700 for more information. 

Chinese National 'Little Tiger' In YouTube Video Pleads Guilty In $27 Million Multinational Fraud Scheme Targeting 2,000 Seniors

The U.S. Justice Department released the information below:

SAN DIEGO – Jiandong Chen, aka “Little Tiger,” pleaded guilty in federal court today and admitted he participated in a $27 million fraud and money laundering scheme targeting approximately 2,000 elderly victims across the United States.

Chen, a Chinese national, is the second defendant charged in a five-defendant indictment unsealed in 2024.  According to public documents, members of the conspiracy operated a series of technical support, bank impersonation, government impersonation and refund scams targeting elderly victims.  Victims received unsolicited phone calls, emails, and pop-up ads directing victims to call a phone number. Unbeknownst to the victims, those phone numbers belonged to India-based scam call centers.

Once a victim called the call center, members of the conspiracy used social engineering techniques to build trust with the victim. In many instances, the conspirators had victims download commercially available remote desktop software, which the conspirators used to access victims’ computers and to carry on the scams.

One of the most frequent scams was a refund scam. Victims were told they were entitled to a small refund, for example, from a retailer for an alleged unauthorized charge.  While pretending to process the refund, the victim would be accidentally “over-refunded” money.  The conspirators would then instruct the victim to send the alleged over-refunded money through wire transfer or in cash via express mail to members of the conspiracy. In reality, the victims had not received any money.

After building trust with a victim, the conspirators would induce victims to send money to members of the conspiracy in the United States, in locations throughout Southern California, Nevada and elsewhere.  The money was sent to members of the conspiracy, including Chen, most often as bulk cash via express mail packages but also as wire transfers. Certain members of the conspiracy also did in-person pickups of money directly from victims.

In one such instance captured in a YouTube video, defendant Chen traveled to a residence in the Los Angeles area to pick up bulk cash from someone he believed to be an elderly victim of the fraud scheme.  In a video posted to YouTube entitled “CONFRONTING SCAMMERS WITH A FAKE FUNERAL (EPIC REACTIONS),” Chen was confronted by a team of YouTubers about working for a scam organization 

You can read the rest of the release and watch a video:

   Southern District of California | Chinese National in YouTube Video Pleads Guilty in $27 Million Multinational Fraud Scheme Targeting 2,000 Seniors | United States Department of Justice       

Noah Davis Exhibition Appears At Philadelphia Museum Of Art

Philly Daily, where my Crime Beat column appears each week, reports that the Noah Davis exhibition will appear at the Philadelphia Museum of Art until April 26, 2026. 

You can read the piece via the link below or the following text: 

 Noah Davis Exhibition appears at Philadelphia Museum of Art - Philly Daily

“Noah Davis began with a humble aspiration: ‘to represent the people around me’. Born in Seattle in 1983, he made LA his chosen home, where he worked to capture the intricacies of contemporary Black life with tenderness and depth,” the museum noted. “Beloved as a painter, this major retrospective presents other aspects of his practice too – from collecting photography from flea markets to making collages, websites, sculpture and eventually his own museum. 

“The exhibition is making its final stop at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on an international tour organized with DAS Minsk in Potsdam, the Barbican in London, and the Hammer Museum in Los Angles. Highlights will include 40 Acres and a Unicorn (2007), a striking blend of fantasy and history; Isis (2009), a portrait of his wife Karon depicted as the Egyptian goddess; Savage Wilds (2012), a series in which Davis cast his gaze upon the complex portrayals of Black subjects on daytime television; and the renowned Pueblo del Rio series (2014), paintings that reimagine one of the oldest, largest, and most architecturally significant public housing developments in Los Angeles.”          

The exhibition is free with museum admission. Adult admission is $30.  

The museum is open from 10am to 5pm. 

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is located at 26oo Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19130. 

You can call 215-763-8100 for more information. 

Former Army Employee And Top Secret Clearance Holder Arrested And Charged With Leaking Classified National Defense Information

The U.S. Justice Department released the information below:

The FBI arrested Courtney Williams (seen in the above photo), 40, of Wagram, North Carolina yesterday and a federal grand jury indicted her today in connection with her alleged transmission of classified national defense information to individuals not authorized to receive it, including a journalist (the Journalist). Williams allegedly violated 18 U.S.C. § 793(d).

“Clearance holders accept a solemn obligation to protect the classified information entrusted to them,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “That they do so is critical to the security of our Nation. When clearance holders violate that trust, the National Security Division will act swiftly to hold them accountable.”

“We trust our war fighting individuals to cooperate as a team to protect our military and country,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Ellis Boyle. “We will pursue criminal charges to keep these warriors safe whenever we find leakers exalting their own feelings over the safety of the United States.”

“Courtney Williams swore an oath to safeguard our nation’s secrets as an employee supporting a Special Military Unit of the Army, but she allegedly betrayed that oath by sharing classified information with a media outlet and putting our nation, our warfighters, and our allies at risk,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “This indictment should serve as a stark warning to all current and former clearance holders thinking of violating their positions of trust. If you jeopardize our national security by disclosing classified information without authorization, the FBI will hold you accountable for your crimes.”

“The tradecraft, tactics, and techniques used by the U.S. military unit in this case are classified and should be shared only with those with proper clearances and a need to know in order to protect American lives and safeguard classified National Defense information,” said Reid Davis, the FBI Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina. “These are serious accusations. Anyone divulging information they vowed to protect to a reporter for publication is reckless, self-serving and damages our nation’s security.”

According to court documents, from 2010 to 2016, Williams worked for a Special Military Unit (SMU) and held a Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance. As a clearance holder, Williams received training as to the proper handling, safeguarding, and storage of classified information. Williams also signed a Classified Nondisclosure Agreement which, in relevant part, confirmed her understanding that the unauthorized disclosure of classified information could constitute a criminal offense. In her role at the SMU, Williams had daily access to a broad range of classified information.

As alleged, between 2022 and 2025, Williams repeatedly communicated with the Journalist via telephone and text messages. During this period, Williams and the Journalist had over 10 hours of telephone calls and exchanged more than 180 messages. In one such message, the Journalist identified themselves as a journalist and stated that they sought information about the SMU in support of an upcoming article and book. After these communications with Williams, the Journalist published a book and article that named Williams as a source and attributed specific statements to her. Some of these statements contained classified national defense information. In addition to her disclosures to the Journalist, Williams also made unauthorized disclosures of national defense information via her social media accounts.

On the day the article and book were published, Williams exchanged several messages with the Journalist. In one such message, Williams stated that she was “concerned about the amount of classified information being disclosed.” In a separate message to a third party, Williams added that, “I might actually get arrested . . . for disclosing classified information.” In a subsequent message, Williams citied a statutory provision of the Espionage Act. And when asked how she knew that she may face legal consequences for her disclosures to the Journalist, Williams responded, “I have known my entire career,” adding that “they tell you everyday . . . 100 times a day.” Finally, in a message to a different third party, Williams stated that she was “probably going to jail for life.”

The FBI Charlotte Field Office is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Logan Liles for the Eastern District of North Carolina and Trial Attorneys Menno Goedman and Matt Hracho of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina.

An indictment is merely an allegation.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.                                                                    

Ex-Cops Sound Off — My Philly Daily Crime Beat Column Offers A Q&A With Gary Capuano, Creator Of The Retired Philly Cops Facebook Group

Philly Daily ran my Crime Beat column with a Q&A with Gary Capuano, the creator of the Retired Philly Cops Facebook Group.

You can read the column via the link below or the following text:

Davis: Ex-cops sound off — a Q&A with Gary Capuano, creator of the Retired Philly Cops Facebook group - Philly Daily

For all of its flaws and weaknesses, Facebook is a valuable tool for people to connect via the Internet.

Facebook, which began in 2004, is a social networking website in which people post comments, photographs, and links to news and other content on the Internet. One can also watch videos.

I belong to several Facebook groups, from Navy veteran groups, where I’ve reconnected with shipmates I served with decades ago, to various news and entertainment groups.

I recently joined the Retired Philly Cops Facebook group.

Although I’m not a retired cop, I’ve covered Philly cops as a writer for more than 30 years. I’m interested in what these retired cops with their long history and experience have to say.  

The Retired Philly Cops Facebook group was created by Gary Capunao (seen in the above and below photos), a retired Philadelphia police sergeant who often offers his views on cops and crime here.

I reached out to Gary Capuano and asked him about his Facebook group.

“I created the Facebook page Retired Philly Cops in March 2023 following a disagreement with a former administrator/moderator of another law enforcement site,” Capuano explained. “Since then, I have served as both the administrator and moderator. I make every effort to properly vet posts and monitor comments to maintain a respectful and constructive environment.”

How many members do you have? Is the page growing?

“The group has grown steadily and now includes over 1,400 members, many of whom are retired police officers. Our membership also includes active-duty officers, as well as family members, friends, and community supporters who are pro-police.”

What type of subjects do your members post about?

“Unlike some other groups, I strive to encourage open and healthy dialogue. I believe everyone’s opinion matters, and I do not restrict members’ voices simply because their views may differ. I have personally observed other groups and organizations limit discussion by disabling comments on certain posts, which I do not believe fosters transparency or trust.”

Why do retired cops tend to sound off after they retire?

"Many of our members, particularly recently retired officers and those injured in the line of duty, feel strongly about current issues. Some are more outspoken, in part because active-duty officers have previously faced discipline, and in some cases termination, following the release of the “Plain View Project” in 2016.

I was personally involved in that project. Prior to the implementation of any formal social media policy, I made a post stating that an officer did a “good job” when his partner was shot and injured and he returned fire, striking the suspect. That was the entirety of my comment. As a result, I was subpoenaed by Internal Affairs while I was out injured and subjected to questioning. Ultimately, no disciplinary action was taken.”

Are retired cops still involved with active-duty cops?

“On the group page, I regularly share news articles related to policing, including crime issues in Philadelphia and other major cities. I also make it a point to honor our fallen by posting the anniversary dates - end of watch - of Philadelphia police officers, ensuring their service and sacrifice are never forgotten. Members also use the platform to exchange practical information, such as contact numbers for various police department offices, and to discuss personal challenges—particularly those faced by officers injured in the line of duty.

Unfortunately, many report ongoing difficulties, including poor communication and perceived indifference from officials, which appears to be a recurring concern.”

Do retired cops criticize or champion the actions of the Philadelphia Police Department?

“Retired officers frequently discuss the current state of the police department as well as the District Attorney’s Office. As a former law enforcement officer and the author of The Unofficial History of the PPD, I allow political discussion within the group. I do so because policing and politics are inherently connected. Police authority is derived from the political process, and departmental funding is determined by elected officials.

From my experience, political pressure plays a significant role in shaping departmental policies and priorities, including which issues are addressed most urgently. Recent events - both locally and nationally - have demonstrated how public protests and civil unrest can influence political responses, which in turn affect how police leadership directs its officers. I also maintain contact with former co-workers who are still on active duty, which provides me with ongoing insight into both the progress being made and the challenges that remain within the department.”

Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here each week. He is also a contributor to Broad + Liberty and Counterterrorism magazine. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com. 

Note: You can read my previous Crime Beat columns via the link below:

Paul Davis On Crime: My Philly Daily Crime Beat Columns

Forward Deployed Air National Guardsman Wins Guardsman Of The Year

My first piece for Reserve + National Guard Magazine became the cover story, I'm proud to state.

The story is about a forward deployed Air National Guardsman, Master Sgt. Jon Osterhout (seen in the above and below photos), who was named Guardsman of the Year by the USO.

You can read the digital magazine via the link below:                                                          

Reserve and Guard • Second Quarter 2026              

The story is on Pages 10 & 11. 

You can also visit the website via the below link:

Reserve & National Guard - Reserve & National Guard