A retired top US general has been charged with making a false statement during a probe into a classified intelligence leak about a cyberattack against Iran’s nuclear program in 2010, prosecutors said Monday.
Marine Corps General James Cartwright, 67, formerly the vice chairman to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, allegedly lied to investigators when he said he was not the source of information provided to New York Times journalist David Sanger.
Sanger wrote a book describing a joint US and Israeli operation that deployed a virus called “Stuxnet” that reportedly destroyed or damaged centrifuges being used by Iran to enrich uranium in 2010.
The malicious code reportedly dealt Iran’s disputed nuclear program a serious blow.
“After investigators showed Cartwright a list of quotes and statements from David Sanger’s book, a number of which contained classified information, Cartwright falsely told investigators that he was not the source,” prosecutors said on a charge sheet.
Cartwright’s attorney Gregory Craig did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cartwright, who retired with four stars in 2011, was considered a close military advisor to President Barack Obama.