CIA officer arrested with gold bars accused of making up top secret program, sources say

National SecurityCIA officer arrested with gold bars accused of making up top secret program, sources sayDavid Rush is under investigation on suspicion of creating a fake spy program and persuaded others to take part, resulting in the CIA transferring large amounts of money to the sham project, sources sayListen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Former CIA officer David Rush appears in court Friday.Dana VerkouterernShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 8, 2026, 5:23 PM EDTBy Dan De Luce, Gordon Lubold and Courtney KubeWASHINGTON — The CIA officer found with $40 million in gold bars stashed at his home is accused of creating a fake top secret intelligence program to receive government funds for his personal enrichment, according to two people with knowledge of the ongoing investigation. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.David Rush has been accused of exploiting the spy agency’s elaborate secrecy precautions that strictly limit sensitive information around such top secret programs to only those who “need to know,” these people said.Rush is accused of creating a sham government contract as part of the program, the sources said, and inviting two of his CIA colleagues to participate in helping run it, they said. One of those colleagues transferred millions of dollars to the invented program, the people familiar with the investigation said. Because Rush claimed the project was an ultrasecret “special access program,” his co-workers would have been prohibited from speaking about it with other employees, the people familiar with the investigation said. They did not know whether the other employees were aware of the alleged scheme or were unwitting accomplices. The Washington Post first reported the allegations that Rush fabricated the program.Rush was arrested last month and charged with one count of theft of public money, accused of filing false time sheets by saying he was a member of the Naval Reserve...