An FBI translator with a top-secret security clearance traveled to Syria in 2014 and married a key Daesh operative she had been assigned to investigate, CNN has learned.
The rogue employee, Daniela Greene, lied to the FBI about where she was going and warned her new husband he was under investigation, according to federal court records.
Greene's saga, which has never been publicized, exposes an embarrassing breach of national security at the FBI—an agency that has made its mission rooting out Daesh sympathizers across the country.
It also raises questions about whether Greene received favorable treatment from Justice Department prosecutors who charged her with a relatively minor offense, then asked a judge to give her a reduced sentence in exchange for her cooperation, the details of which remain shrouded in court-ordered secrecy.
The man Greene married was no ordinary terrorist.
He was Denis Cuspert, a German rapper turned Daesh pitchman, whose growing influence as an online recruiter for violent jihadists had put him on the radar of counter-terrorism authorities on two continents.
In Germany, Cuspert went by the rap name Deso Dogg. In Syria, he was known as Abu Talha al-Almani. He praised Osama bin Laden in a song, threatened former President Barack Obama with a throat-cutting gesture and appeared in propaganda videos, including one in which he was holding a freshly severed human head.
The FBI, in a statement to CNN, said as a result of Greene's case it "took several steps in a variety of areas to identify and reduce security vulnerabilities. The FBI continues to strengthen protective measures in carrying out its vital work."
The FBI did not identify what steps were taken and declined further comment.
"It's a stunning embarrassment for the FBI, no doubt about it," said John Kirby, a former State Department official. He said he suspects Greene's entry into Syria required the approval of top Daesh leaders.
Most outsiders trying to get into an Daesh region in Syria risk "getting their heads cut off," said Kirby, now a CNN commentator on national security matters. "So for her to be able to get in as an American, as a woman, as an FBI employee, and to be able to take up residence with a known Daesh leader, that all had to be coordinated."
In court papers filed in US District Court in Washington D.C., prosecutors characterized Greene's conduct as "egregious," deserving of "severe punishment."
Assistant US Attorney Thomas Gillice said Greene had "violated the public trust, the trust of the officials who granted her security clearance, and the trust of those with whom she worked and, in doing so, endangered our nation's security."
Even though Greene's "conduct skirted a line dangerously close to other more serious charges," the prosecutor argued she should receive a lighter sentence because of her cooperation.
Greene's two-year sentence was less than punishments given other defendants charged with terrorism-related crimes.
Even failed attempts to travel to Syria and join Daesh have earned defendants much stiffer prison sentences. Americans convicted in dozens of recent Daesh prosecutions received an average sentence of 13 1/2 years in prison, according to an analysis in April by the Center on National Security at Fordham University.
Source: CNN
