Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, a former member of the Army Special Forces, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, November 18, to disclosing classified information sensitive to national defense to the Russian Federation during his active-duty status in the U.S. Army. Debbins was arrested on August 17, 2020, and is scheduled to be sentenced in February 2021 where he faces the maximum penalty of life in prison.

Debbins is charged with violating Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 794 (a): Gathering or Delivering Defense Information to Aid Foreign Government. According to federal prosecutors Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas W. Traxler, Assistant U.S. Attorney James L. Trump, and Trial Attorney David Aaron of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, "Debbins did unlawfully and knowingly conspire with others" to share "documents, writings, and information relating to the national defense of the United States."

Prosecutors stated Debbins had worked with Russian intelligence agents for over ten years, with a majority of those years while he was on active duty in the U.S. Army. From December 1996 until 2011, Debbins disclosed information on his role, mission, and fellow officers. He also shared classified information on his previous positions while deployed with the U.S. Army Special Forces, in particular, his time working on chemical issues and his deployment to Azerbaijan.

A redacted unsealed court document states that at 19 years old, Debbins first traveled to Russia in 1994 amid curiosity and fascination of his mother’s heritage. Debbins’ mother was born in the former Soviet Union. While in Russia, Debbins, a Minnesota native, met his now-wife, whose father was an officer in the Russian Military.

Between graduating from the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at the University of Minnesota in September 1997 and beginning his active duty in l998, he lived and worked in Russia. During this time, he was given the code name “Ikar Lesnikov” after signing a commitment statement to “serve Russia.” Russian intelligence agents encouraged Debbins to not only continue in his career in the U.S. Army but to seek employment with the Special Forces.

Debbins received a Secret clearance in 1996. Later he was approved for a Top Secret security clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access in August of 2004, shortly before leaving for his deployment to Azerbaijan and Georgia.

In 2004, during his tour in Azerbaijan, Debbins was investigated on suspicion of a security violation. At the time, he was serving as a Captain in the Army Special Forces. Due to the results of the security investigation, he was removed from his command, his security clearance was suspended, and Debbins was honorably discharged from active duty in November 2005.

Following his time in the military until 2011, Debbins made several trips to Russia to continue to work with Russian intelligence forces. However, his intent had changed, and he was now looking to do business in Russia and requested the assistance of the Russian intelligence agents.

The federal indictment filed in Alexandria, Virginia, stated Debbins was “angry and bitter about his time in the U.S. Army. He “thought that Russia needed to be built up and that America needed to be ‘cut down to size’.” Prosecutors state Debbins acted with the intent "that such documents, writings, and information were to be used to the injury of the United States and the advantage of a foreign government, namely the Russian Federation.”

Title 18 USC, Chapter 37, the formal name for the Espionage Act of 1917, was originally signed just a few months after the United States entered World War I with an intent to prevent any meddling with U.S. military operations or recruitment efforts. It was intended to punish any spy in the United States who disclosed or gathered information and sent it back to their home country. Some of the first prosecuted under the act were interfering with the United States' ability to draft American men to fight. One of the most notable cases in the 20th century, however, was the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were executed for sending nuclear weapon information to the Soviet Union.

With the rise in information-sharing on apps and social media sites, the government is able to trace the release of documents more efficiently than ever before. Additionally, it is easier than ever to send classified information to unauthorized individuals through illegal channels. However, this section of the United States Code does not differentiate between spying and leaking of information.

While the language of the act was originally intended to target spies, under the Trump and Obama administrations it has also been used to prosecute leakers and whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, and more recently, Reality Winner. These individuals were not assisting any country in particular but released information or government documentation to damage the United States’ defense.

The United States House of Representatives is currently debating a potential amendment to The Espionage Act. Representative Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat representing Hawaii, presented the Protect Brave Whistleblowers Act. The change would expand the scope of the Espionage Act to penalizing whistleblowers, such as Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers in 1971, in the same procedure as those who spy or disclose defense information to foreign governments. This amendment would add further protections for whistleblowers and begin to make a separation between spying and leaking information. The Espionage Act has not been amended in over 50 years.

Debbins was arrested on the same day as Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a former CIA officer, for communicating classified Top Secret level information to intelligence officials of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). To date, the Department of Justice has charged at least six individuals in 2020 on counts of espionage to foreign agents in China and Russia.