An attorney for a US defence contractor accused of giving military secrets to his Chinese girlfriend said there’s no evidence that classified information was given to any foreign country.
Benjamin Bishop, 59, was in love with the 27-year-old student, his lawyer Birney Bervar said.
“It’s not an espionage case, it’s a case about love,” Bervar told reporters after a detention hearing Friday.
The Army Reserve lieutenant colonel was working at the US Pacific Command as a contractor when he was arrested a week ago. Officials haven’t disclosed the name of the contractor.
Bishop is charged with one count of communicating national defence information to a person not entitled to receive it and one count of unlawfully retaining national defence documents and plans.
An FBI affidavit alleges Bishop gave his girlfriend classified information about war plans, nuclear weapons, missile defences and other topics through emails and telephone calls.
The affidavit says Bishop met the woman at an international military conference in Hawaii. They began an intimate relationship in June 2011, when Bishop was working at a Pacific Command office that develops plans to deter potential US adversaries, according to the affidavit and Bishop’s LinkedIn profile online.