Madi Thoele, 4th Period: Navy Officer Charged with Espionage

Summary: A Navy officer has been charged with two counts of espionage and three counts of attempted espionage. His name is Lt. Cmdr. Edward Lin. He was arrested about 8 months ago, but information about the case didn't become available until after a preliminary hearing on Friday. Information is still being withheld from the public. Both the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI continue to investigate. They're still trying to determine who Lin was spying for, China and Taiwan being possibilities. Lin was taken into custody at an airport in the U.S. Pacific Command region while heading to a foreign country, so this caused suspicion. The official said investigators found enough evidence for his charges, but a lot more is needed because they want to figure out what information he passed along and to whom. Lin has previously worked for the assistant secretary of the Navy for financial management and comptroller. He has received many awards and recognitions. Since his arrest, Lin has been in confinement and is now being held in Chesapeake, Virginia. The other charges include "wrongly transporting classified material and failing to report the information". He's also charged with "three counts of "false official statement" for failing to report foreign travel and putting false information on documents". Finally, he's charged with paying for a prostitute and committing adultery. 

Analysis: Lin's potential acts of espionage might be of value to the country he's working for, so I hope he was caught early enough that little damage was done. This event reminds me of Nixon's Watergate Scandal. Nixon sent his staff to go undercover and break in to the Watergate building to find Democratic information to use to his advantage. Both Nixon and Lin, in theory, committed espionage. I hope Lin didn't find out too much information, because then the crime could have a lasting negative effect on the U.S., just like how the Watergate Scandal did.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/10/politics/navy-officer-charged-with-espionage/index.html