Fort Bragg vet charged with sharing sensitive military info placed on house arrest

A former veteran accused of leaking military secrets to a journalist was the center of a federal court hearing on Monday.

2026-04-13

The FBI said Courtney Williams and a journalist had over 10 hours of telephone calls and exchanged more than 180 messages, some of which contained classified information. 

Williams, who lives in Scotland County, was indicted after being formally charged with sharing classified information about a Fort Bragg special command unit with a journalist.

According to the indictment, she was in regular communication with the journalist, who ultimately published a book and article citing Williams as the source. While the complaint does not name the journalist, Seth Harp wrote a book and an accompanying article that mentions Williams throughout the piece.

Williams was the focus of a 2025 Politico article with the headline: “My Life Became a Living Hell: One Woman’s Career in Delta Force, the Army’s Most Elite Unit.” It coincided with the release of Harp’s book, “The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces,” which alleges sexual harassment and discrimination.

The indictment said she specifically revealed actual names of those in the special military unit, as well as the tactics, techniques and procedures used by the unit.

On Monday, the judge detailed the conditions of her release.

Williams wore a jumpsuit and handcuffs, periodically crying while her family sat just feet away. Her conditions for release include no contact with the media, no social media and surrender of passports. She was required to disclose her social media handles to a probation officer. 

Williams will be let out of jail after a detention hearing, but was ordered to stay on house detention.

Williams' defense attorney and her family members did not provide a comment during Monday's appearance.

Last week, Harp supported Williams in a statement about the matter.

“Courtney Williams is a brave whistleblower and truth-teller," he said. "Former Delta Force operators disclose "national defense information" on podcasts and YouTube shows every day, but the government is going after Courtney for the sole reason that she exposed sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the unit. This is a vindictive act of retaliation, plain and simple.”