BROOKLYN, NY - Former FBI Agent Johnathan Buma, a 15-year veteran, was taken into custody at JFK Airport in Brooklyn on Monday and faces charges for illegally disclosing classified intelligence. A whistleblower who was highly critical of the bureau during the first term of President Donald Trump, Buma worked in counterintelligence. In a 2022 whistleblower report, he claimed that the FBI was biased in favor of President Donald Trump and that FBI leadership rejected his allegations that Rudy Giuliani was the target of a Russian counter-intelligence operation.
As reported by The New York Post, Buma was boarding an international flight when he was whisked away from the terminal by federal agents on allegations that he printed off confidential materials from the FBI and then shared them with his associates in 2023 when he circulated a draft copy of his book.
In court documents, the DOJ alleges, “The book draft contained information that Buma obtained through his position as an FBI Special Agent that relates to the FBI’s efforts and investigations into a foreign country’s weapons of mass destruction (‘WMD’) program.”
The charging documents reveal that Buma was seen in FBI surveillance footage “on Friday, October 27, 2023- his last day at FBI prior to assuming his ‘leave without pay’ status – Buma arrived at OCRA shortly before 1:30 PM. He arrived wearing a black backpack. He remained at OCRA for approximately five hours, until approximately 6:30 PM. During that time, based on my review of FBI internal computer activity logs, Buma accessed and printed approximately 130 files from FBI’s internal network (the 'Confidential Material').”
The DOJ went on to allege, "Buma also printed nine text-file documents which contained text that had been copied and pasted from reports that were marked in such a way that made clear that the information must be protected," seemingly refuting comments to Business Insider from Buma's attorney, Scott Horton who claimed that "there was no classified information” found during a raid of Buma’s home.
In the complaint, obtained by Epoch Times, the DOJ alleged that Buma had “copied and pasted from reports” that were clearly marked as protected information and contained intelligence data from confidential informants.
A vocal critic of how the Trump administration handled allegations that the president’s former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani was the target of a Russian intelligence operation, in a partially redacted statement to the Senate in 2023 (noted by The Guardian), Buma claimed to be at his “wits end” and filed a whistleblower complaint in 2022 making allegations of “numerous acts of intelligence suppression” within the bureau. He later claimed to have suffered retaliation after the report.
Former FBI Agent Kyle Seraphin shared an ABC Insider interview of Buma to X and noted, “His story has ALWAYS been bizarre, and his public interviews seemed strange to me. I said so when they went public.”
As reported by The New York Post, Buma was boarding an international flight when he was whisked away from the terminal by federal agents on allegations that he printed off confidential materials from the FBI and then shared them with his associates in 2023 when he circulated a draft copy of his book.
In court documents, the DOJ alleges, “The book draft contained information that Buma obtained through his position as an FBI Special Agent that relates to the FBI’s efforts and investigations into a foreign country’s weapons of mass destruction (‘WMD’) program.”
The charging documents reveal that Buma was seen in FBI surveillance footage “on Friday, October 27, 2023- his last day at FBI prior to assuming his ‘leave without pay’ status – Buma arrived at OCRA shortly before 1:30 PM. He arrived wearing a black backpack. He remained at OCRA for approximately five hours, until approximately 6:30 PM. During that time, based on my review of FBI internal computer activity logs, Buma accessed and printed approximately 130 files from FBI’s internal network (the 'Confidential Material').”
The DOJ went on to allege, "Buma also printed nine text-file documents which contained text that had been copied and pasted from reports that were marked in such a way that made clear that the information must be protected," seemingly refuting comments to Business Insider from Buma's attorney, Scott Horton who claimed that "there was no classified information” found during a raid of Buma’s home.
In the complaint, obtained by Epoch Times, the DOJ alleged that Buma had “copied and pasted from reports” that were clearly marked as protected information and contained intelligence data from confidential informants.
A vocal critic of how the Trump administration handled allegations that the president’s former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani was the target of a Russian intelligence operation, in a partially redacted statement to the Senate in 2023 (noted by The Guardian), Buma claimed to be at his “wits end” and filed a whistleblower complaint in 2022 making allegations of “numerous acts of intelligence suppression” within the bureau. He later claimed to have suffered retaliation after the report.
ABC reporting that Jonathan Buma has been arrested for printing off internal FBI documents for personal gain and writing a book about his time as an FBI Agent.
— Kyle Seraphin (@KyleSeraphin) March 20, 2025
His story has ALWAYS been bizarre, and his public interviews seemed strange to me. I said so when they went public pic.twitter.com/NYCNkHgiNA
Former FBI Agent Kyle Seraphin shared an ABC Insider interview of Buma to X and noted, “His story has ALWAYS been bizarre, and his public interviews seemed strange to me. I said so when they went public.”
Buma was released from federal custody on $100,000 bail in a hearing in Brooklyn federal court. His case will be heard in California federal court where his former field office was located.
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Comments
1 hour ago | Comment by: James
I believe this makes him a traitor, right?! Death Penalty!!!