A former senior CIA official pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Virginia to a charge that he abused his position and government funds to enrich himself by acquiring Florida real estate and hundreds of gold bars worth more than $40 million.
David J. Rush, 49, of Ashburn, Virginia, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff is scheduled to sentence him on Jan. 28 in Alexandria.
A fabricated “highly classified” program
According to a court filing, Rush invented a “highly classified” government program to justify buying luxury property in south Florida that he intended to resell for personal profit, and separately concocted a bogus “sensitive government activity” to obtain the gold bars. He directed about $145 million to a holding company formed at his direction and used the money to buy four luxury properties in Palm Beach and Hobe Sound.
The Justice Department says his conduct cost the federal government about $194 million in total, including more than $1.8 million in privately chartered flights he authorized for personal use. Under questioning, Rush also admitted that he had given a foreign government official information about the identity of a secret U.S. government source, the filing says, without naming the country.
Gold, cash and luxury watches
Investigators who searched his home seized about 300 gold bars, roughly $2 million in cash and some 35 luxury watches, according to an FBI affidavit. Prosecutors also say Rush lied about being a former Navy pilot with degrees from Clemson University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; he enlisted in the Navy in 1997 and left the Navy Reserve as a lieutenant in 2015.
“Federal employees are entrusted with serving the American people, not themselves,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said. CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the agency referred the matter to the FBI after an internal investigation, adding that Rush “betrayed the public trust and should be held fully accountable.”
