Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards admitted before Manhattan federal court Judge Gregory Woods to spilling secrets to a Buzzfeed reporter about the Mueller investigation and probes into Paul Manafort, Rick Gates and Russian agent Maria Butina.
The 41-year-old’s plea comes as she was approaching trial on charges including conspiracy to make unauthorized disclosures between October 2017 and October 2018 while working for the treasury department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Prosecutors accused the Virginia woman, who was arrested in 2018, of passing along suspicious activity reports to a journalist. SARs are used to flag financial transactions that could indicate criminal conduct.
“I agreed to disclose a SAR knowing I was not allowed under the law to disclose it,” she told Woods during her emotional plea.
The information she passed along via encrypted app led to at least 12 articles, authorities said.
Edwards is described in court papers as a “Whistleblower,” but defense attorney Marc Agnifilo declined to confirm if his client had sought such status.
“I think she was of the view that certain facts weren’t being handled the right way by the government agencies whose responsibility it is to handle this,” Agnifilo said.
Edwards faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing, which is set for June 9.