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Harold Thomas Martin III, 52, faces 20 counts of willful retention of national defense information.

The indictment alleges Martin removed classified documents from 1996 to 2016. He is accused of keeping documents in his home or car.

The documents include highly classified materials from the National Security Agency, the US Cyber Command, the CIA and the National Reconnaissance Office. Among the documents are ones that reveal US military gaps, capabilities and operations, as well as ones that contained foreign intelligence collection methods, targeting information and technical user materials.

Martin's attorney had no comment when contacted by CNN.

FBI investigators haven't concluded what Martin's motivation was for stealing the documents. At a hearing in late October a public defender representing Martin said his client was a hoarder who was "completely out of control."

Before his arrest in August, Martin worked as a contractor to the National Security Agency through consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, which fired him after he was charged. He has a long history working with sensitive government intelligence, and served in the US Navy and Naval Reserves for more than 10 years, reaching the rank of lieutenant.

The information he had digitally in his car, the feds said, was equivalent to approximately 50,000 gigabytes, enough to store 500 million documents containing images and text.

The government said Martin had a document "regarding specific operational plans against a known enemy of the United States and its allies." That document was not only classified but marked need-to-know only, and Martin should not have been privy to that information, prosecutors said in court filings.

Also found were files containing personal information of government employees, and an email chain with "highly sensitive information" on the back of which were handwritten notes "describing the NSA's classified computer infrastructure and detailed descriptions of classified technical operations."

Among the documents the FBI believes Martin stole were some detailing a hacking tool that the NSA developed to break into computer systems in other countries, law enforcement sources said when he was arrested. Documents detailing the tools were posted on the Internet in recent months, though no connection to Martin has been offered.

Martin's attorneys have argued previously in court that he is not a flight risk because he does not have his passport and has a wife and home in Maryland. They noted his military service.

Martin will make his next appearance in court on February 14.

CNN's Steve Almasy contributed to this report.

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Former NSA contractor indicted in stolen data case - CNN

John Schindler claims NSA fears Trump administration cannot be trusted with sensitive information. 'Since January 20, we've assumed that the Kremlin has ears inside the SITROOM,' he cites Pentagon official as saying.

The National Security Agency has been withholding information from the White House, fearing that President Donald Trump and his staff cannot be trusted not to leak sensitive information, a former NSA analyst claims.

In a column written by John R. Schindler for The Observer, the security expert and former professor at the U.S. Naval War College claims that the NSA has stopped its decades-old practice of preparing special reports for U.S. presidents since Trump took office.

Schindler added that the NSA's concerns were shared across the American intelligence community, and it appears that other agencies are withholding intelligence from the White House as well.

According to Schindler, the intelligence community's fears were prompted by the ties of senior members of the Trump administration to the Kremlin, as well as "nagging questions about basic competence regarding Team Trump."

"Since January 20, weve assumed that the Kremlin has ears inside the SITROOM," Schindler cites a senior Pentagon official as saying, meaning the White House Situation Room where the president is briefed on intelligence matters.

Schindler's claims echo a January report on Yedioth Ahronoth by Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman, which said that Israeli intelligence officials are concerned that the exposure of classified information to their American counterparts under a Trump administration could lead to their being leaked to Russia and onward to Iran.

According to Bergman, the American intelligence officials implied that Israel should be careful when transferring intelligence information to the White House and the National Security Council (NSC) following Trump's inauguration at least until it is clear that Trump does not have inappropriate connections with Russia.

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NSA Withholding Intelligence From 'Untrustworthy' Trump Administration, Former Analyst Claims - Haaretz

Will Edward Snowden Return To The US? NSA Leaker Not Afraid If Russia Hands Him Over To Washington

Edward Snowden tweeted Sundaythat he is not afraid of being handed over to the U.S. after a report stated that Russia is consideringsending the whistleblower to his home country as a gift to President Donald Trump. In his tweets, Snowden implied that these rumors are a result of his criticism of Russian governments new law that allows surveillance in a bid to counter terrorism in the country. Snowden has dubbed it the Big Brother law. On Friday, NBC News reported, citing two senior U.S. officials, Russia is mulling over the idea to send the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor to the U.S. to curry favor with Trump. The U.S. president, on his part,has been looking to establishbetter

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Foreign Policy (blog)

NSA Contractor Could Face 200 Years in Prison for Massive Breach Foreign Policy (blog) Prosecutors allege Harold T. Martin III stole a huge trove of classified documents, which he stored at his home in Maryland, while working as a contractor to the NSA and other intelligence agencies. While the full scope of Martin's collection of top ... Ex-NSA contractor stole secrets for nearly two decades, feds sayFox News Ex-NSA Contractor Accused Of Taking Classified Information Is IndictedNPR NSA contractor indicted for stealing more than 50TB of government ...The Verge Politico -PC Magazine -Wall Street Journal -Reuters all 94 news articles »

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NSA Contractor Could Face 200 Years in Prison for Massive Breach - Foreign Policy (blog)

[JURIST] A former National Security Agency (NSA) [official website] contractor was indicted [indictment, PDF] on Wednesday by a federal grand jury on charges that he willfully retained national defense information. US officials are stating [press release] that the theft by Harold Thomas Martin may have been the largest heist of classified government information in history. Martin allegedly spent over 20 years stealing highly sensitive government material [CNN report] related to national defense. It is unclear what, if anything, Martin did with all the stolen data. Martin now faces 20 criminal counts, each of which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Martin worked for Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp, which also employed Edward Snowden. Martin was employed as a private contractor for at least seven different companies, beginning in 1993. His positions dealing with government computer systems, gave him various security clearances that routinely provided him access to top-secret information. The indictment alleges Martin stole documents from US Cyber Command, the CIA, the NSA and the National Reconnaissance Office [official websites]. Martin's initial appearance in the US District Court for the District of Maryland is scheduled for next Tuesday.

Governments around the world have re-examined their data privacy laws in the wake of a myriad of data leaks, including the Edward Snowden [JURIST backgrounder] leaks. National governments around the world have attempted [JURIST op-ed] to gain control over data transferred within their borders. On Tuesday the US House approved [JURIST report] a measure that would updat US privacy laws in regards to e-mails and cloud storage. In October 2015 the European Court of Justice ruled [JURIST report] that EU user data transferred to the US was not sufficiently protected. In June 2015 a court in The Hague struck down [JURIST report] a Dutch law that allowed the government to retain telephone and Internet data of Dutch citizens for up to 12 months in an effort to combat terrorism and organized crime.

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Former NSA contractor indicted in theft of classified government information - JURIST