Russia, China Target 'Disillusioned' U.S. Federal Agents For Recruitment

A sign for the National Security Agency (NSA), US Cyber Command and Central Security Service, is seen near the visitor’s entrance to the headquarters of the National Security Agency (NSA) after a shooting incident at the entrance in Fort Meade, Maryland, February 14, 2018.

Chinese and Russian intelligence agencies are reportedly recruiting disgruntled U.S. federal employees in national security roles who have been recently fired or those who fear impending termination, according to CNN.

The effort to recruit disgruntled U.S. staffers by adversaries of the United States comes amidst mass layoffs by the Office of Personnel Management — potentially leaving staffers more motivated to reveal confidential U.S. information.

Working with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Trump administration has been reducing government inefficiency, fraud, and waste — the main reason for the federal workforce reductions.

Nevertheless, these efforts have led to many former federal employees feeling “bitter about being fired.”

“Employees that feel they have been mistreated by an employer have historically been much more likely to disclose sensitive information,” stated Holden Triplett, a former director of counterintelligence at the National Security Council during the first Trump administration.

“We may be creating, albeit somewhat unintentionally, the perfect recruitment environment,” he added.

The adversaries are reportedly targeting employees with security clearances, providing them access to information regarding critical U.S. infrastructure.

According to CNN sources, at least two countries have already implemented recruitment websites specifically targeting disgruntled federal U.S. employees who are willing to give up government secrets.

The adversaries are reportedly seeking potential targets to harvest information on platforms like TikTok, Reddit, LinkedIn, and RedNote.

“It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see that these cast aside federal workers with a wealth of institutional knowledge represent staggeringly attractive targets to the intelligence services of our competitors and adversaries,” stated an anonymous source speaking with CNN.

Meanwhile, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard argued that the potential security threat is nothing more than a fear tactic by federal agents — in an attempt to keep their job.

“I am curious about how they think this is a good tactic to keep their job,” Gabbard stated on Tuesday. “They’re exposing themselves essentially by making this indirect threat using their propaganda arm through CNN that they’ve used over and over and over again to reveal their hand, that their loyalty is not at all to America. It is not to the American people or the Constitution. It is to themselves.”

“And these are exactly the kind of people that we need to root out, get rid of so that the patriots who do work in this area, who are committed to our core mission can actually focus on that,” she added.

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