US government employee charged with passing on Israel's plans to attack Iran

A U.S. government employee who worked for the CIA in some capacity is charged with leaking classified documents over the Internet Israel Possible plans for a retaliatory strike against Iran.

Federal prosecutors have charged Asif Rahman, who had one of the highest levels of security clearance, with two counts of illegally transmitting national defense information after confidential government documents related to Israel's possible attack plans surfaced online, according to court documents and two known sources. Two sources familiar with the case said Rahman worked for the CIA but did not say whether he was a contractor or employee.

According to court documents, Rahman allegedly leaked the information illegally on October 17 from locations outside the United States, including in Cambodia. The documents Rahman is accused of leaking are not listed in court documents, but sources confirmed to CBS News that the leaked documents were related to the possible attack plans. The New York Times first reported Rahman's arrest.

However, it is still not clear whether Rahman was the source of the secret documents or whether he may have acted alone.

He was indicted last week in the Eastern District of Virginia and is scheduled to make his first appearance in Guam federal court on Thursday for deportation proceedings.

Federal investigators at the Pentagon and with the FBI launched an investigation last month after documents apparently belonging to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency were posted in a Telegram channel around the time Israel was considering a retaliatory strike against Iran, reports said Sources told CBS News. The documents published online appeared to be authentic, the sources said.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

Andres Triay and Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.