A former senior CIA official arrested in May with hundreds of gold bars in his home pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud in a scheme the Justice Department puts at about $194 million. David J. Rush, 49, of Ashburn, Virginia, admitted using invented classified programs to divert government money for personal purchases.
A senior executive with a top secret clearance, Rush made up official-sounding authorities, prosecutors say, among them a Special Access Program that didn’t exist. About $145 million of the money bankrolled luxury Florida real estate, watches and a car, DOJ says. He justified the 298 gold bars, which cost the government about $46 million, with a “separate purported sensitive government activity” that prosecutors say never existed.
Per the FBI, the May search of his Ashburn home turned up over 300 gold bars worth more than $40 million, plus about $2 million in cash and roughly 35 luxury watches. Under the plea agreement, Rush forfeits the fraudulently obtained properties, two BMW Alpinas, 30 watches, 298 gold bars and about $2.1 million in cash. The FBI said Rush padded his résumé with a Navy pilot career and degrees from Clemson University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that investigators say were false.
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Rush also admitted he told a foreign official details about one of the US government’s clandestine human sources in late 2025, acknowledging the disclosure could put the source’s life at risk, along with the officers who work with that person. The filings don’t name the country, and the plea covers a single wire fraud count.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Rush “abused his position and betrayed the public trust.” Attorney General Todd Blanche said the administration is “committed to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government.”
Judge Michael Nachmanoff will sentence Rush on January 28, 2027, in Alexandria. He faces up to 20 years behind bars plus restitution and fines.
