A Fort Bliss soldier was willing to give classified U.S. military information to Russian government officials in exchange for citizenship and safe travel to the foreign adversarial country, court documents state.
Spc. Taylor Adam Lee, 22, is facing federal charges of attempted transmission of national defense information to a foreign adversary and attempted export of controlled technical data without a license.
Lee remains jailed without bond, federal court records show.
A federal complaint affidavit unsealed Friday, Aug. 8, details the alleged efforts Lee made to give classified military information to who he believed was a Russian government official.
Felix Valenzuela, who is listed as Lee’s attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.
Lee allegedly demanded Russian citizenship in exchange
Lee was being investigated by law enforcement in October 2024, in connection with an “unrelated criminal investigation,” the federal complaint affidavit states. No information was included in the affidavit about that investigation.
As part of that investigation, law enforcement obtained telecommunication records from Lee. The records showed that Lee made three phone calls in May 2025 to phone numbers “associated with the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C.,” the affidavit states.
FBI agents launched an investigation into Lee and the phone calls to “better understand the purpose of Lee’s outreach to the Russian Embassy,” the affidavit states.
An undercover FBI agent began messaging Lee on May 30, pretending to be a member of the Russian government.
Lee told the agent he was “hoping to discuss cooperation if you are available,” the affidavit states. Lee allegedly went on to say he “could provide armored operations information,” “first-hand knowledge,” and “operator experience on the M1 Abrams platform.”
He added he wanted to share “something I can discuss more securely,” the affidavit states.
In exchange for the information, Lee “just hope(d) for safe travel to the country,” and he would “need support to get” to Russia, the affidavit states.
Lee asked the agent who he was working for. The agent replied, “I work for my country Services…I help those who wish to cooperate with my country.”
Lee continued to message the agent, who did not respond. Lee said in the messages he was sorry for sending so many messages, but “there is just a matter of urgency with this,” the affidavit states.
He allegedly went on to say, “for my cooperation with your government I am willing to give documents, information on new programs I have witnessed in person, first hand accounts on armored operations, and to show weaknesses.”
He allegedly told the agent he was “willing to work and assist wherever is deemed necessary, or best use.”
Lee demanded “citizenship, passport, and a safe way to travel to the country” in exchange for the classified information, the affidavit states. He allegedly added he would “even be willing to continue cooperation there (Russia) as I can explain weak points in vehicle systems and show training.”
Lee claims he was a whistleblower
Lee told the agent he “had tried becoming a whistleblower and [that] my safety is in question now, which is the reason behind the urgency,” the affidavit states.
Lee claimed he tried to report that “the U.S. military is doing actions that they were covering up, human trafficking and criminal activities.” He added, he “had reported it through our clear channels but someone didn’t like it,” and “other soldiers have gone missing or ended up dead,” the affidavit states.
Lee continued to ask the agent what Russian agency the agent was working for, because he wanted to make sure “I’m not just sending information back to my own government,” the affidavit states.
The undercover FBI agent told Lee he worked for Russia’s Ministry of Defense.
Lee allegedly sends classified military documents
Lee sent screenshots of his “Soldier Talent Profile,” which included his assignments and security clearance, the affidavit states.
He also sent the agent documents on M1A2 Abrams Tank and other “internal U.S. Army documents relating to military equipment and platforms,” the affidavit states.
Lee allegedly promised the agent he would “supply 3 more files until I can hand off a flash drive“ and that “in person I can discuss the new programs happening.”
He later sent “four additional documents, all of which were technical and/or operations manuals for the M1A2 Abrams tank,” the affidavit states. Two of the documents included warnings that the documents were classified.
Lee provided more information to the agent on operation manuals. He told the agent, “Everything relates to the M1A2 tank and the support and training behind it, as well as those documents on its operations and technical specifications,” the affidavit states.
The agent asked for more documents. Lee allegedly replied, “I do apologize for my urgency, the USA is not happy with me for trying to expose their weaknesses.” He added, “At this point I’d even volunteer to assist the Russian federation when I’m there in any way.”
‘Mission accomplished’
Lee and an undercover FBI agent agreed to meet in person twice. The first time was on July 9 in El Paso, where Lee said he could provide information and documents. The second meeting was for Lee to hand over “physical hardware,” the affidavit states.
The July 9 meeting was video recorded. A screenshot of the video showing Lee is included in the affidavit.
Lee gave the agent an SD card containing “four updated operations manuals for the M1A2 Abrams; several documents relating to the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, a type of armored fighting vehicle used by the U.S. military; and other manuals relating to combat operations,” the affidavits states. Lee claimed the SD card had 12 “books” of information on it.
Lee told the agent he could use his security clearance to “acquire any documents relating to the M1A2 Abrams tank,” the affidavit states.
He claimed he could get a piece of hardware known as the Joint Battle Command-Platform from inside the M1A2 Abrams tank. Lee said the hardware “receives and transmits location data for U.S. military combat vehicles all over the world,” the affidavit states.
Lee said he would bring the hardware to the next meeting. He added, “he would need to flee and would be unable to return to base.”
The agent and Lee continued to talk after the meeting through messaging. The agent asked Lee if he had a preference for where he wanted to live in Russia. Lee allegedly replied that since he “would continue working for Russia in some capacity,” he would defer to “whatever works best for Russia,” the affidavit states.
On July 30, Lee notified the agent that he was able to get the hardware.
“Great news for you today, two tanks were damaged and recovered from the field and I have everything needed you requested,” Lee allegedly told the agent. “Yes everything is acquired. Including hard drive. Just lucky that I got it sooner.”
He added, “And no one knows I have them. They think they got lost out in desert.”
Lee agreed to deliver the hardware to a storage unit in El Paso. Unknown to Lee, the storage unit was controlled by the FBI. He left the hardware in a black, plastic footlocker.
Lee allegedly sent the agent a message saying, “Mission accomplished.”
Agents recovered the hardware, which was labeled “SECRET,” the affidavit states.
FBI El Paso agents obtained an arrest warrant for Lee on Aug. 4. Agents arrested Lee Aug. 6 in El Paso.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on X/Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Inside FBI sting: Court docs reveal how Fort Bliss soldier offered US tank data to Russia
Reporting by Aaron Martinez, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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