U.S.: Ex-contractor committed 'breathtaking' theft of secrets

WASHINGTON -- A former National Security Agency contractor's theft of top-secret government information was "breathtaking in its longevity and scale," federal prosecutors said in a court filing Thursday aimed at keeping the man locked up as the case moves forward.

They said he took enough classified material to fill roughly 200 laptop computers.

The Justice Department also said it anticipated bringing additional charges against Harold T. Martin III, including charges under the Espionage Act, which would expose him to far harsher penalties if convicted.

It described the evidence against him as "overwhelming" and said Martin admitted to investigators he was storing classified materials illicitly.

The court papers offered new details about the enormous volume of information prosecutors believe Martin stole and revealed the Justice Department's concern Martin is or could be in contact with a foreign government. Prosecutors said Martin has had online communication in Russian and -- raising the specter of a situation akin to previous NSA leaker Edward Snowden -- said if Martin were freed, he "could seek refuge with a foreign government willing to shield him from facing justice."

"Given the nature of his offenses and knowledge of national secrets, he presents tremendous value to any foreign power that may wish to shelter him within or outside of the United States," prosecutors said.

A detention hearing was scheduled for this afternoon in Baltimore. Martin's attorneys said he never intended to betray his country and does not pose a danger or flight risk.

They said Martin, a former lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, does not have a valid passport and dismissed as "fantastical scenarios" concerns he might flee.

Martin was arrested at his Maryland home in August around the same time as federal officials acknowledged an investigation into a cyberleak of purported hacking tools used by the NSA.

Those documents were leaked by a group calling itself the "Shadow Brokers," but nothing in court filings explicitly connects Martin to that group.