The Pathetic Details at the Heart of the Suburban Couple Spy Case

A pathetic spy trial is going on in West Virginia. In April 2020, Jonathan Toebbe sent a letter to a foreign government—which the complaint refers to as “Country1,” but it seems to be France —containing some fairly routine manuals on the nuclear propulsion system of the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class submarine and promising much more if the recipient sent him a down payment. That agent, Justin Van Tromp, the author of the affidavit, spent the better half of the following year corresponding with Toebbe, pretending to be the foreign intelligence contact of the wannabe spy’s dreams. It’s not entirely clear from the complaint, which redacts several passages of Toebbe’s letter describing the contents of the documents and how they might help “Country1’s” navy. Note also that it’s immaterial whether the leak actually injures the United States or helps a foreign nation; it is criminal merely if the leaker acted “with the intent” to do so.