Before arrest with 303 gold bars, CIA officer spun tale he was Top Gun fighter pilot

[muriel_volestrangler]

Why he had all that gold and cash is now the subject of a federal investigation. Rush, a CIA officer for about 17 years, is accused of creating a fake top secret intelligence program to receive government funds for his personal enrichment, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation.

Rush is also accused of fabricating his academic and military record when he applied to the spy agency in the early 2000s.

Among the fabrications, federal prosecutors say, was that he was a Navy pilot. Rush did serve in the Navy — from 1997 to 2015 — but he was an information systems technician. And according to federal prosecutors, he didn’t even have a pilot’s license.
...
So far he has been charged only with stealing public money by filling out fraudulent time sheets. Prosecutors say he pocketed $77,000 in military leave pay after he falsely claimed he was a member of the Navy Reserve beyond 2015.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/arrest-303-gold-bars-cia-officer-spun-tale-was-top-gun-fighter-pilot-rcna349037

This makes the CIA's employee vetting look non-existent. Not only did they take his word about what his previous military experience was without checking with the Navy, they employed him from the "early 2000s" until 2015 with him still in the Navy Reserve - and they didn't even bother to check what he was doing in the Reserve!"

[Kid Berwyn]

1. Air Canada was hiring.

Top Pentagon Official Worked Closely With C.I.A. Officer Later Found With Gold Bars

David Rush, the C.I.A. employee, worked on a highly classified China spying program with Stephen A. Feinberg, the Pentagon’s second-ranking official.

by Mark Mazzetti and Julian E. Barnes
The New York Times, June 10,. 2026

David J. Rush, the former C.I.A. officer found last month with $40 million in gold bars in his home and now under F.B.I. investigation, had powerful friends in government. It turns out that one of them, Stephen A. Feinberg, the deputy secretary of defense, even contacted the C.I.A. earlier this year asking to work more closely with him.

Before the C.I.A. fired Mr. Rush, he and Mr. Feinberg worked together on a highly classified program focused on spying on China, according to the current and former officials. Mr. Feinberg reached out to a senior agency official, pushing for Mr. Rush to play a greater role in the classified program.

Mr. Feinberg did not know about the criminal investigation of Mr. Rush when he reached out to the agency, according to U.S. officials. But Mr. Feinberg’s advocacy for Mr. Rush demonstrates how trusted Mr. Rush was with secrets known to only a small group of American officials at the same time that court documents show he may have been defrauding the C.I.A. of millions of dollars.

At the request of U.S. government officials, The New York Times is withholding some details about the spying program that Mr. Feinberg and Mr. Rush worked on because of the sensitive nature of the operation.

Snip...

Mr. Rush began accumulating $40 million in gold bars based on a fake classified program he created, according to court documents. That program, on paper, was related to a project regarding “the continuity of government operations,” people briefed on the matter said. No such project actually existed.

Continues...

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/us/politics/pentagon-cia-officer-gold-bars.html

"COG." When invoked after 9-11, not a single Democratic leader was invited to the secret, undisclosed location. Not. A. Single. One.

[Jacson6]

2. Yes, I have been to many bars where people spin tales of glorious combat missions.

If you have actually been there it is 23:15 hours of boredom with 0:15 minutes of excitement you don't want to talk about. Just sayin...