Courtney Williams, 40, of North Carolina, was arrested by FBI agents on Tuesday, the department said.

The Justice Department did not identify the journalist to whom Williams allegedly transmitted national defense information.

But US media identified him as Seth Harp, author of the 2025 book "The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces."

According to court documents, Williams worked for a special military unit at Fort Bragg, headquarters of the US Army's elite Special Operations Command, between 2010 and 2016 and held a top secret security clearance.

Between 2022 and 2025, she allegedly communicated with the journalist on numerous occasions by telephone and by text message and she was quoted by name in his book.

"Courtney Williams swore an oath to safeguard our nation's secrets as an employee supporting a special military unit of the Army," Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, said in a statement.

"She allegedly betrayed that oath by sharing classified information with a media outlet and putting our nation, our warfighters and our allies at risk," Rozhavsky said.

According to WRAL TV, the book details sexual harassment and discrimination experiences Williams had during her years working at Fort Bragg.

The Justice Department said Williams, following the book's publication, exchanged messages with the author in which she said she was "concerned about the amount of classified information being disclosed."

In a message to a third party, she allegedly expressed concern that she was "probably going to jail for life," it said.