David J. Rush reached a tentative plea deal after being charged with theft of public money, and a federal judge extended the deadline to formally indict him until Oct. 8. The filing could keep the case from going to a public trial while prosecutors and Rush’s lawyer try to finish the agreement.
David J. Rush and the gold bars
Rush, a former CIA official, was charged in May over allegations that he fraudulently inflated his salary. Prosecutors said he falsely claimed 744 hours of military leave on his timecards after he was honorably discharged from the Navy in 2015, and also falsely claimed degrees from Clemson University in South Carolina and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.
Investigators searched his home and seized about 300 gold bars worth more than $40 million, about $2 million in U.S. currency, and about 35 luxury watches. That seizure turned the case into more than a salary-fraud prosecution; it also created a separate factual dispute over why the gold was at his home in the first place.
Eastern District of Virginia filing
On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia and Rush’s lawyer filed a joint court submission that did not give the terms of the tentative plea deal. The parties also said the case could involve significant litigation over classified material, which helps explain why they were trying to settle before trial rather than force every issue into open court.
In June, a Justice Department attorney told the court that Rush “wasn't supposed to have the gold bars at his home.” Rush’s attorney, by contrast, called the seizure “a sensational tidbit” and said the theft charge is not related to the gold bars. The FBI affidavit said Rush had obtained the gold bars from the U.S. government for “work-related expenses.”
Oct. 8 deadline
On Friday, the judge gave both sides until Oct. 8 to formally indict Rush, creating time to finish the plea agreement before the case moves into a more public phase. If prosecutors and the defense lock in the deal, the practical question left for Rush is not whether the gold bars were found, but what he will admit to and what charge, if any, remains after the agreement is signed.
