Kingsbury, 50, of Garden City, Kansas, pleaded guilty on Oct. 13, 2022, to two counts of unlawfully retaining documents related to national defense. As an intelligence analyst for the FBI for over 12 years, Kingsbury held a TOP SECRET/SCI security clearance and had access to national defense and classified information. The FBI investigated what uses Kingsbury put to the classified documents she illegally removed from the secure workspace. Still, according to court documents, the investigation revealed more questions and concerns than answers.
Investigators reviewed Kingsbury's telephone records, which revealed several suspicious calls. Kingsbury contacted phone numbers associated with subjects of counterterrorism investigations, and these individuals also made telephone calls to Kingsbury. Investigators have not been able to determine why Kingsbury reached these individuals or why these individuals got her. Kingsbury declined to provide the government with any further information.
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Kingsbury admitted to repeatedly removing from the FBI and retaining in her residence at that time in North Kansas City, Missouri, an abundance of sensitive government materials, including classified documents related to the national defense, throughout her employment. In total, Kingsbury improperly possessed approximately 386 classified documents at her home.
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Some classified documents she unlawfully removed and kept in her home contained sensitive national defense information. According to court documents, Kingsbury put national security at risk by retaining classified information in her home that would have, if in the wrong hands, revealed some of the government's most important and secretive methods of collecting essential national security intelligence.
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The documents retained by Kingsbury in her residence included papers in electronic format on hard drives, compact discs, and other storage media. Kingsbury unlawfully possessed national defense information, including numerous documents classified at the SECRET level from the FBI that describe intelligence sources and methods related to U.S. government efforts related to counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and defense against cyber threats. The documents are said to have included details on the FBI's national objectives and priorities, including specific investigations across multiple open field offices when Kingsbury unlawfully retained the documents. Kingsbury was also accused of possessing documents relating to sensitive human-source operations in national security investigations, intelligence gaps regarding hostile foreign intelligence services and terrorist organizations, and the technical capabilities of the FBI against counterintelligence and counterterrorism targets.
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Kingsbury is also said to have unlawfully retained numerous documents classified at the SECRET level from another government agency that described intelligence sources and methods related to U.S. government efforts to collect intelligence on terrorist groups. The documents included information about al Qaeda members on the African continent, including a suspected associate of Usama bin Laden. There were also documents regarding the activities of emerging terrorists and their efforts to establish themselves in support of al Qaeda in Africa.
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Kingsbury's sentencing comes amid controversy swirling about classified documents found at the homes of former President Trump and President Biden. Trump was indicted earlier this month in the Southern District of Florida on 37 felony counts related to mishandling classified documents, obstructing justice, and making false statements concerning material found during an FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago residence in West Palm Beach.
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Classified documents were also found at think tank offices formerly used by Biden and at his Delaware home. Claiming only a few materials were discovered, compared to what was uncovered in Trump's case, Biden's attorneys have said they cooperated with the Justice Department to ensure records were returned to the National Archives.
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