State Dept. Clerk Seized in Papers Theft
WASHINGTON — A State Department cables clerk was accused Wednesday of smuggling secret diplomatic papers from work to a West African journalist who was charged with faxing them to Liberian rebels.
Geneva Jones, who sorted and distributed classified cables sent to the State Department from U.S. embassies around the world, was accused of hiding the documents in her purse, a bag or a rolled-up newspaper and taking them to journalist Dominic Ntube. She was arrested by the FBI after work Tuesday.
Ntube was arrested two hours later at his apartment, where agents found thousands of classified cables and 39 CIA documents marked “secret,” according to court papers.
The government said Jones also delivered documents to an illegal immigrant from Kenya, a man that one law enforcement official said was being questioned by the FBI.
FBI agents installed video cameras in the State Department to record Jones’ handling of documents.
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