Key takeaways:
- Rush faces up to 20 years in prison and agreed to forfeit at least $194 million in assets.
- Prosecutors said a fabricated program directed about $145 million toward four Florida properties; a separate claim about a top-secret project led to a $45 million transfer.
- A plea document says Rush disclosed information about a clandestine U.S. intelligence source to a foreign official in late 2025.
A former senior CIA officer found with hundreds of gold bars in his home pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud, admitting he invented classified government activities to divert $194 million in public funds. Prosecutors also said he disclosed information about a secret U.S. intelligence source to a foreign official.
David Rush, 49, entered the plea in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. He faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 28. Under his plea agreement, he will forfeit at least $194 million in assets, including 298 gold bars, four Florida homes, two BMWs and 35 luxury watches, CBS News reported.
Rush used his senior position at the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology to create false classified authorities, direct expenditures and approve transactions without meaningful scrutiny, according to court documents described by NBC News. Prosecutors said he acted alone; no other CIA officials, government employees or contractors were accused of crimes.
One fabricated program sent about $145 million through contractors and holding companies for four properties in Palm Beach and Hobe Sound, Florida. According to CBS News, prosecutors said Rush intended to resell the homes for profit. He told associates that senior government officials had approved the purchases, NBC News reported.
In a separate transaction, Rush claimed he needed gold for a top-secret project involving deliveries of high-value commodities to unnamed people. A contractor wired $45 million in January to a holding company, the transfer underlying the wire fraud charge. Prosecutors said the company still had about $38.6 million in its account.
“Rush effectively acted as his own approving official, enabling him to expend substantial amounts of United States government money without meaningful scrutiny,” court documents said. Prosecutors also said he spent $1.8 million in government money on private charter flights, though a later CIA review found he had “no legitimate official requirement” for them, according to NBC News.
Agents searching Rush’s home after his May 19 arrest found the gold, about $2 million in cash and the watches. Authorities initially counted 303 gold bars but revised the figure Tuesday to 298. CBS News reported that the gold was worth $40 million.
NBC News reported that Rush also admitted in a plea document to disclosing “certain descriptive information of a U.S. government clandestine human source” in late 2025. The document said the disclosure could endanger the source and U.S. officers working with the source, and jeopardize the government’s ability to recruit people who depend on its promise of secrecy.
Rush was initially charged with stealing public funds in a case involving allegedly falsified pay records. Investigators also said he had misrepresented his education and military service. He has remained in custody since his arrest. His lawyers declined to comment, NBC News reported.
Rush worked as a liaison to the Pentagon on sensitive programs and collaborated with Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, people familiar with their work told NBC News. Feinberg has not been accused of wrongdoing, and the FBI said he is not under investigation. The intelligence community’s watchdog is separately investigating the case, NBC News reported.
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