Ex-FBI analyst sentenced for retaining classified documents with 'extremely sensitive national defense info'

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A former FBI analyst from Kansas was sentenced in federal court Wednesday for illegally retaining hundreds of classified documents related to national defense at her home.

U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough sentenced Kendra Kingsbury, 50, of Garden City, Kansas, to three years and 10 months in federal prison without parole. Kingsbury 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 more than 12 years, from 2004 to Dec. 15, 2017, Kingsbury was assigned to a sequence of different FBI squads, each of which had a particular focus, such as illegal drug trafficking, violent crime, violent gangs and counterintelligence. 

She held a TOP SECRET/SCI security clearance and had access to national defense and classified information. 

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The seal of the F.B.I. hangs in the Flag Room at the bureau's headquarters on March 9, 2007, in Washington, D.C. A former FBI analyst in Kansas was sentenced to over three years in prison for illegal retaining classified documents at home. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

"The FBI investigated what uses Kingsbury put to the classified documents she illegally removed from the secure workspace, but according to court documents, the investigation revealed more questions and concerns than answers," the FBI said in its press release. 

"Investigators reviewed Kingsbury’s telephone records, which revealed a number of suspicious calls. Kingsbury contacted phone numbers associated with subjects of counterterrorism investigations, and these individuals also made telephone calls to Kingsbury," the FBI said. "Investigators have not been able to determine why Kingsbury contacted these individuals, or why these individuals contacted her. Kingsbury declined to provide the government with any further information." 

The FBI said Kingsbury admitted to repeatedly removing from the FBI and retaining in her personal residence at that time in North Kansas City, Missouri, an abundance of sensitive government materials, including classified documents related to the national defense, over the course of her employment. In total, the FBI said Kingsbury improperly possessed approximately 386 classified documents at her home.

"Some of the classified documents she unlawfully removed and kept in her home contained extremely sensitive national defense information," the release said. "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."

The Justice Department announced the sentencing of former FBI analyst Kendra Kingsbury. (iStock)

The documents retained by Kingsbury in her personal residence included documents in electronic format on hard drives, compact discs and other storage media.

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The FBI said that the national defense information that Kingsbury unlawfully retained included 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 defending against cyber threats. 

The documents are said to have included details on the FBI’s nationwide objectives and priorities, including specific investigations across multiple field offices that were open at the time Kingsbury unlawfully retained the documents. Kingsbury was also accused of retaining 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.

As for the national defense information, Kingsbury is 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 FBI said those documents included information about al Qaeda members on the African continent, including a suspected associate of Usama bin Laden. The bureau added that there were documents regarding the activities of emerging terrorists and their efforts to establish themselves in support of al Qaeda in Africa.

Kingsbury's sentencing comes amid controversy swirling about classified documents found at the homes of former President Trump and President Biden. 

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Trump was indicted earlier this month in the Southern District of Florida on 37 felony counts related to the mishandling of classified documents, obstructing justice and making false statements in connection to material found during an FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago residence in West Palm Beach. 

Classified documents were also found at think tank offices formerly used by Biden, as well as at his Delaware home. 

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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.