Navy nuclear engineer's wife arrested for selling secrets appears to support BLM, 'resistance' movements
Article by Emma Colton for Fox News
Navy nuclear engineer's wife arrested for selling secrets appears to support BLM, 'resistance' movements
Diana Toebbe's Facebook account has numerous posts concerning BLM, feminism and anti-Trump posts
The Facebook account appearing to belong to the woman who was charged alongside her Navy nuclear engineer husband with selling secret information about nuclear submarines to an undercover FBI agent is filled with liberal talking points on the Black Lives Matter movement and feminism.
Fox News examined what appears to be Diana Toebbe’s Facebook page, Twitter account and Instagram page, and found repeated posts supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, including a profile picture reading, "Black Lives Matter," and a post last year celebrating the social media protest against racism called "#blackouttuesday."
Jonathan and Diana Toebbe were arrested Saturday in West Virginia, according to a criminal complaint detailing espionage-related charges. The government said Jonathan Toebbe sold information for nearly the past year to a contact he believed represented a foreign power, but was actually an undercover FBI agent.
A Twitter account appearing to also belong to Diana Toebbe shows her following various "resistance" accounts in protest of Trump, including the "Rogue NASA" account described as "the unofficial ‘Resistance’ team of NASA" on its description.
One retweet from the account in 2017, just days after Trump's inauguration, shows a photo reading, "To the rest of the world, due to an insufficient amount of moral courage, America is temporarily out of order. We hope to restore service as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we in the resistance movement join hands with those around the world who realize we are one people. May the forces of good be with us. #TheResistance."
Fox News also confirmed Diana Toebbe's maiden name is "Smay," which is included in the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram account names reviewed by the outlet.
The private Annapolis school, Key School, confirmed to Fox News that Diana Toebbe is a faculty member, and has been suspended indefinitely.
"Key School is shocked and appalled to learn of the charges filed against faculty member Diana Toebbe and Jonathan Toebbe. Key School had no prior knowledge of their alleged criminal activities, nor is the School connected to the investigation in any way," the school said in a statement on the matter.
The social media posts on Diana Toebbe’s Facebook account include one saying "Women Can Stop Trump;" one profile picture featuring failed 2016 presidential candidate Hilary Clinton’s campaign symbol; a photo of the transgender flag; and various profile photos supporting the gay community. Her most recent public profile photos show her hair dyed purple in a bathroom selfie.
One Facebook post from 2020 quotes Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg two days after her death, reading, "Fight for the things you care about."
The Instagram account appearing to belong to Diana Toebbe focused on photos of dinners, her children, and other non-political topics, Fox News found.
Fox News also examined what appeared to be Jonathan Toebbe’s Facebook account, and found his most recent public post is from 2013. The handful of posts included stories from satire site, The Onion, including one headline he posted in 2011, reading, "New GOP Strategy Involves Reelecting Obama, Making His Life Even More Miserable."
Both of the Facebook accounts list Diana and Jonathan Toebbe as living in Annapolis, Maryland, where the DOJ press release stated the couple lives. The accounts were the only ones to appear on Facebook when Fox News searched their names alongside the location of Annapolis.
Fox News also reviewed material showing both of the Toebbes are registered Democrats, with them registering in 2008 in Colorado. No information on their Maryland registration was found.
The FBI says the scheme to sell secret information about nuclear submarines began in April 2020 when Jonathan Toebbe sent a package of Navy documents to a foreign government and wrote that he was interested in selling operations manuals, performance reports and other sensitive information.
Authorities say he also provided instructions for how to conduct the secretive relationship, with a letter that said: "I apologize for this poor translation into your language. Please forward this letter to your military intelligence agency. I believe this information will be of great value to your nation. This is not a hoax."
That package, which had a return address in Pittsburgh, was obtained by the FBI last December through its legal attache office in the unspecified foreign country. A monthslong undercover operation was then launched, and an agent posing as a representative of the foreign government made contact with Toebbe. The agent agreed to pay thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency for the information he was offering.
The FBI said in June that the undercover agent sent $10,000 in cryptocurrency to Toebbe, describing it as a sign of good faith and trust.
Weeks later, federal agents watched as the Toebbes arrived at an agreed-upon location in West Virginia for the exchange. Diana Toebbe appeared to serve as a lookout for her husband during a dead-drop operation for which the FBI paid $20,000, according to the complaint.
The FBI recovered a blue memory card wrapped in plastic and placed in a peanut butter sandwich, court documents say.
The FBI provided the contents of the memory card to a Navy subject matter expert, who determined that the records included design elements and performance characteristics of Virginia-class submarine reactors, the Justice Department said.
The memory card also included a typed message that said, in part: "I hope your experts are very happy with the sample provided and I understand the importance of a small exchange to grow our trust."
The Toebbes are expected to have their initial court appearances Tuesday in Martinsburg, West Virginia.
The Department of Defense referred Fox News to the FBI when asked if the couple would be part of a potential probe into domestic terrorism. The FBI did not immediately respond to Fox News's request for comment on the matter.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/wife-navy-nuclear-engineer-facebook-blm-feminism
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