Defense Department contractor arrested and charged with mishandling classified documents
From May until as recently as August 7, Turkey-born electrical engineer Gokhan Gun printed over 250 documents at work, a few of which were labeled “top secret,” FBI officials allege. Because of his employment with the Defense Department, Gun possesses a top-secret clearance, but he was not authorized to take the documents home, according to an 11-page complaint filed in a Virginia federal court.
Gun was scheduled to depart the US for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Thursday morning, before federal agents executing a search warrant caught him leaving his home ahead of the flight, according to the complaint. In their initial search of his backpack, agents found a document marked “top secret.”
During their search of his home, agents found stacks of papers in what appeared to be his dining room, where they discovered a few more documents labeled “top secret.”
In one instance of his alleged printing of documents, Gun was seen leaving the office with what appeared to be “rolled papers within a partially translucent shopping bag,” according to officials. In another instance, Gun was seen exiting the office with a “translucent red shopping bag” and observed traveling to his Fairfax, Virginia, residence. He was then seen operating two cell phones before heading to his second residence in Falls Church, Virginia. Officials confirmed Gun had not been issued a work cell phone.
Gun is a frequent traveler, having taken numerous trips to Turkey and to various European and Middle Eastern countries, according to officials. He owns homes in Virginia, Texas and Florida.
Investigators are still trying to determine why Gun took the documents, and it’s unclear why he was heading to Mexico.
CNN has reached out to Gun’s attorney for comment.
The arrest comes after a number of high-profile cases in recent years regarding classified documents. Former President Donald Trump was indicted in 2023 for wrongfully hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He pleaded not guilty, and US District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case last month. In March, Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty to leaking sensitive defense information after he was accused of posting highly classified intelligence reports and other documents on social media.
Gun's employment in the Defense Department, with its associated top-secret clearance, raises questions about the politics of security protocols within such organizations. The recent arrest and alleged document theft case could potentially spark a narrative in the political arena about the handling and protection of classified information.
