Ali Watkins
Ali Watkins is a reporter who has been linked to the information leak made by James A. Wolfe –an ex-Senate Intelligence Committee security director.
Wolfe who was arrested on Tuesday is said to have lied to the FBI numerous times and to have provided classified information to at least two journalist, one of them being Ali Watkins.
Last year Wolfe was pressured to say he had he had lied in his statements about his personal relationship with a reporter after he was confronted with photos of them together. However, he also said he had not shared confidential information with that person. It appears he was also lying there.
An investigation made by the FBI about unauthorized intelligence leaks to reporters, shows Wolfe exchanging tens of thousands of emails, including one that reads
“I’ve watched your career take off even before you ever had a career in journalism.… I always tried to give you as much information that I could and to do the right thing with it, so you could get that scoop before anyone else….”
Wolfe who served as security director at the SSCI for three decades –was in charge of handling all classified information, from the Executive Office to the panel. He left the organization in December and formally retired last month.
According to the NY Times, their reporter Ali Watkins –was approached by FBI agents about a romantic relationship she had with Wolfe saying they were looking into unauthorized leaks and took from her years’ worth of her records. She and Wolfe were allegedly in a romantic relationship for about three years.
Ali Watkins previously worked for BuzzFeed, she has covered top national security stories. She is graduate from Temple University earning her Bachelor’s Degree, Journalism in 2014. That same year she broke the story on the CIA spying on computers used by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
According to her LinkedIn, she is charge of covering national security for the New York Times in Washington, DC, with a focus on law enforcement agencies like ATF, DEA and US Secret Service.
Watkins previous jobs include stints at Politico, The Huffington Post and McClatchy.
Find Ali Watkins on Twitter here.
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